Finding Out
by cswimzott
Summary: "A modern AU where Hermione never got her letter." In a muggle university, Hermione Granger only sort of feels like she belongs, but does the normal college life anyway. This year, she's mentoring, and assisting teachers, but what happens when some unexpected Hogwarts students make the university their safe house? dramione, OC, Hogwarts Era, Second War
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.** ** _"_**

 **Here's the prompt I worked off of (again, I don't own the prompt, thx to whoever does):**

 ** _A modern AU where Hermione never got her letter._**

 ** _Hermione Granger had always been odd. Terribly brilliant and scathingly ruthless, her perception of the world had made her the object of schoolyard jests, her peers doling out punishment by virtue of her strangeness, children terrifying in the dangerous manner only children are capable of. And so alone in her room, she made her dolls move by her will. That was years ago._**

 ** _Now all grown up, she becomes, almost obsessively, determined to prove that more than will, magic reinforced her spine. And by God, if there's a whole different world out there, Hermione will be part of it - even if she has to claw her way in._**

 ** _So when a pretty boy shows up, all sharp lines, and light hair, and the snark of old rich, she is drawn to him and the mark on his arm. He is well-versed in manipulation and the sorcery of the dark, and when he offers her a hand to beckon her come, she takes it."_**

The campus was overtly crowded, only owing to the fact it was freshman orientation, a rush of young, ripe minds scattered and chatting with vigor all around. They seemed to be everywhere; pooled in great numbers around the old oaks in the open courtyard, sitting in the sun anxious on the stone fountain, hanging on the railings that laced the granite steps up to the Roost, a creative name given to the large castle-like structure that held plenty of large classrooms and lecture halls. The rest of the academic buildings flowed off the Roost in smaller turrets, making it look more like something out of a fairytale than a university campus.

But Hermione had more on her mind than annoying freshman thinking university would be all its hyped up to be. _They won't even realize how cracked up this place is until it's too late,_ she thought to herself as she studied the scene below her from one of the Roost's upper classrooms. _What a bloody shame,_ she gazed on and saw a red headed girl smiling at her blonde friend, seemingly without a care about studying, money, or her future. The girl looked normal enough; with a small bag next to her feet she stretched out on the fountain and put her head back into the sun. Her red hair shone bright and the blonde beside her continued talking with a lofty gaze at her friend, pointing to the other girl's hair occasionally as if some bug wouldn't leave her alone.

The more Hermione watched the more she thought about her past; it would be so easy to forget the feeling of never belonging, if only she could feel like she belonged anywhere. As she stared at the girls, talking away without a care in the world, she thought about her own freshman orientation, and how much she was mistaken into thinking university schooling might be a little better than the disgusting experiences of high school. She had never fit in, too intelligent for the likings of even the more pristine teachers at her school, and it started to bother her classmates too. She grew a thick skin quick and with it came a temper to match as her parents couldn't understand why she couldn't let go of her desperate need to be somewhere else, something different and new and better. Maybe it had to do with the fact there was definitely something more than just her soul coursing through those veins of hers; she knew it had to be something more, something _magical_. The first time she had made anything happen was in first grade, when a stout, spoilt boy called Dudley had made her cry by pulling her braid and calling her stupid. She had hid behind the slide on the playground and wished and wished and wished that he would just be quiet, he was always so mean, when all of sudden she heard his loud whiny voice stop short. When she looked around the side of the slide, he was clutching his face, flushed red and huge, his throat swollen shut as he could not force his mouth open no matter what he did.

He waved his hands wildly again and again, but his friends did nothing as he eventually began to cry. He ran to the teachers for help. He didn't come back for a long time, Hermione remembered, and no one seemed to tell the story the same after he got back. They claimed it was a bee sting, he had swallowed it. He had always been allergic, nothing more, or a problem with his teeth growing in, but Hermione felt like it was something different, something bigger. When she told her parents they laughed, said her imagination was marvelous for her age, and asked if she were writing this story up for her teacher.

That night, lying in bed Hermione couldn't sleep; she sat up in bed staring at her stuffed cat. She stared and stared for some time; it was late and cold, but she didn't care, she sat up anyway, and as she willed her mind a little further, her skin began to tingle as the cat changed color slowly before her eyes from orange to purple. She fell asleep smiling that night, clutching a purple cat, and feeling the residual little bits of magic gently flow out of her and into her dreams.

In the morning, her mother questioned her as to where she got the purple cat, when they had not bought two and they knew orange to be her favorite. When she tried to explain her mother didn't understand; it didn't make sense that her daughter could think something into changing color. It wasn't natural, remarkable yes, but definitely not natural. And so it definitely was false. They didn't speak of it again, and that night Hermione changed it back to orange. She learned then that her secret was not something all people believed in, and her parents definitely did not understand. It was not something they had learned from young like she, and so it was not easy to accept. She continued to use her magic through her childhood, to get back at bullies sometimes, but mostly when playing on her own. She chanced to show her best friend Margaret in the fourth grade, and Margaret screamed when Hermione had floated the teacups over to them from the top of the dresser. They fell abruptly and shattered to the floor, when Margaret's mom came in, and scolded them for climbing the dresser to get the cups. Hermione never really got to play with Margaret again after that.

By high school, she realized no one else should be told, or cared to know anyway, so why tell anyone? Why even try to convince them there was something unique about her when everyone else would just dismiss it? She got into her studies, determined to find something else she could be good at; academia proved that and more for her despite her cynical look on things. She became top of her class, she never missed a topic or assignment, could answer almost any question right. This made her a few friends here and there, and she wasn't completely isolated like grade school. Her wit was immeasurable, but she tried not to gloat with it or she would fit in even less.

But being a straight A student didn't make her completely happy, she still felt out of place. And because of that she became a bit of a rebel, getting in with some less than A plus students. She did wild things, drank a bit, snuck out, hooked up with a few guys if only to be able to blow off some steam. But they didn't judge her like everyone else; they didn't find her AS odd as everyone else. So she liked them enough, they were a great distraction. She learned to use her magic only in convenience, when no one was around, or to help her out when boys were assholes to her. Like Scott, who had cheated on her at the homecoming dance; he got his car tires removed in return. And Eric, who showed her nudes to half the soccer team before he magically found his phone and laptop were fried to pieces. It was fun to do things like that, and, in those moments she really felt alive. But there was no one that could relate to, and that only reminded her anger to flare. No one knew the truth, and that hurt.

Upon graduation she decided it wasn't worth it to fight her parents about the top universities she could attend and instead picked one far away to avoid their constant nagging. She really had wanted to travel, to leave home to find some semblance of the world she thought was hidden out there somewhere. A place where she could belong and actually be a real person seemed almost tangible, if only she could get out and explore it. Maybe there was magic somewhere, and maybe, just maybe, she could find it.

University had proved a bit of a bust, she knew it after a semester there of boring work and recycled concepts in all her classes. It was almost easy for her to get As and now, as a junior, she had hoped she would have caught a glimpse of something more by now. She had hoped that since university would cluster a bunch of random people all together, that maybe some magic would show up somehow.

She had managed to fit in a little better here, but it wasn't one hundred percent, it was more like sixty or seventy. And that wasn't how she wanted to live her life, she wanted more than the pessimist's view out of a glass half empty. On the plus side, the school had its perks, parties galore and boys to fool around with, free shit given away in the quad and easy grades for a little less than the normal outlandish price of university, especially thanks to that scholarship money. She had tried having fun, and did manage to; she had had many fun drunken nights and more than a couple hook ups, a little dab into some illegal things, and maybe she did sleep with that professor, but he was only eight years older, that's not bad right, or was it nine? She didn't remember; she just knew she had done a few things to try and forget, why not be reckless and attempt to find something in this world to make her feel alive?

Usually those nights and adventures felt pretty damn close, she was almost an optimist, but sometimes at the end of a night she could feel a tinge of something sparking under her skin. Whether she had walked into her apartment alone, the room spinning with wine, or just before falling asleep next to a drunken boy that she just had a great time with, the magic sparked ever so softly and she felt it for sure. She knew it was still there, almost eager to get out in its subtleness. It wouldn't be forgotten despite all she tried to do. So she just had to live with it.

She contemplated how easy it would be to tell that redhead and her blonde friend to pack up and go home now, that college would not be illustrious and magnificently great as they dreamed it would; it was not the same place that buzzfeed articles about partying and stalking instagram for hot fraternity boys told it would be. _At least they would have some fun for a while with those parties and those boys,_ she thought. But then she had to remind herself that's exactly what she had fun with freshman year. _I mean, come on Hermione, you aren't THAT depressed here,_ she thought to herself to cheer up. _You've had fun, you have some friends, Erin and Christine and Therese, and that pixie looking girl, what was her name?_ she stared at the red headed girl even longer. _Nevermind, they'll enjoy it here I bet! They have to, they're normal girls! They'll fit it for sure._

She did have those few, close friends and fun, but there was still a little something missing and it was so damn hard to forget. Maybe that was because of the spark of something else under her skin that never completely went away all her life, still itching her to this day…

Hermione had been lazily looking down at the girls still as she fought her pessimistic thoughts away, noticing the blonde had taken to messing up the redhead's hair, as if the flies or whatever she had been pointing to earlier had gotten inside. _What an odd girl,_ she thought breaking her inner monologue, but suddenly the red head made the blonde stop, upset she had messed up her hair. As she lifted her hand to fix it, the tip of her sleeve fell slightly, and a wooden tip was exposed. She practically didn't even touch her hair as she waved her hand over her head, the hair fixing itself instantly. Hermione blinked in disbelief and immediately got closer to the open window; _that couldn't have been real, could it?_ The redhead got up then, grabbed her bag like nothing was out of ordinary and the blonde followed lazily, as they were taken to check in with another group of students nearby them. They disappeared too quickly and Hermione desperately scanned the crowd for them. _Gone, completely disappeared!_ She scanned again and again, but came up with nothing. She sat down on the window sill, resting her head against the glass. _Take a deep breath, maybe you saw it wrong, completely wrong, yeah that's it,_ she thought, closing her eyes.

She had to stop reveling in the past; this was the first time in a while that anything out of the ordinary had come up, besides her own little bursts of magic. She was beginning to lose hope that the somewhere she so hoped was real since she was young was actually real. But that had been a pretty damn good indicator of something… of something different… _it was almost like, like she had a, a wand!? That cannot be what I saw, could it? It CAN'T. She didn't touch her hand to her hair at all though! I swear...like what in the bloody hell happened!?_

She looked up then, desperately hoping the girls would reappear in the crowd that she'd lost them in. As she searched, she couldn't find any glimpse of red in the sea of browns, blacks, and blondes. They had definitely heard ahead of time that it was so much better to escape the welcome ceremony… She scanned the steps of the Roost in front of her, reluctant. It was useless; there were way too many people here now and the girls were nowhere in sight. Sighing, she began to just look at all the people again, trying to make sense of what she saw, trying to calm down.

She tried to push it out of her mind. It was nothing more than a subtle movement that she had missed, she concluded, continuing to look at the pooling students. She had to remind herself to be logical, it was after all one of her strengths, and sometimes she was able to pull out logical means for the seemingly magical unexplanables in her life. Like the time she thought she saw a boy in the supermarket put cookies in the cart without grabbing them himself. He had wiggled the lower boxes he could reach and it fell in, right? Right. She had to be logical.

 _There's got to be something to keep my mind off all this magic nonsense… look at all these little children, god they look younger than I remember looking when I was in first year, they're like tiny, they all look like kids-_ she stopped mid thought and did a double take. She thought she saw a glimpse of red hair, and instantly began scrutinizing the area. After a few seconds she realized it was only the glimmer of a flag up above. She sighed, losing hope again, and her eyes followed the flag pole down. When she got to the bottom, however, he mouth gaped open. She couldn't stop staring; a boy was perched on the last railing of the staircase beyond, leaning against it half engulfed in shadow from the nearby building and half blinding in the sunlight.

His white blonde hair was a shade Hermione had never seen in real life. It took her by surprise it shone so bright, a brilliant color like fresh frost on grass. It fell in long jagged sections across his forehead, just hitting the edge of a brilliant pair of dark sunglasses. This cut off her view of his eyes but his jaw was strong, his face angular in a handsome way and his skin was pale like his hair. But that was nothing compared to his figure; there was no way this kid was a young little freshman, he looked good. His posture leaked arrogance and self worth, the bored look to his mouth showed his annoyance at the surrounding kids. His jeans clung to his muscles in a strained way and his black button up was rolled up on only one side, revealing a strong arm. The last feature Hermione noticed was what looked like a cigarette in his hand, and at this Hermione scoffed and got mad, knocked back into the real world very quickly. D _isgusting! Absolutely dreadful! A smoker, really? You were this close to being perfect you bloody arse,_ she noted as her excitement fell.

And she began looking around the crowd again. But it wasn't long until she found herself staring at him again and again; she couldn't pull herself to look away. He didn't _do_ anything but sit and stare out at the crowd in front of him, just as Hermione was doing up in her classroom in the Roost. He looked around lazily though, again seeming bored at what was going on. His gaze moved quickly to look straight under the window she was at, and Hermione was glued so close to the window in anticipation her nose touched the glass. He pulled his sunglasses down ever so slowly to reveal brilliant gray eyes. Hermione gasped at his actions, forgetting she had been watching him so intently. _Fuck, what if he saw me staring? That's so awkward, shit!_ her mind raced with embarrassment as she tried to hide herself from the window, backing up from the pane quickly. After a few tense moments Hermione had relaxed a miniscule amount when she dared to peek at him once more. As she turned her face to the very edge of the window she saw his eyes were still up where she was for a split second before he looked away, the smallest smirk lifted his bored mouth up. Quickly she withdrew away from the window, blush rising quickly to flush her cheeks, her heartbeat now racing through her veins. _Shit,_ she thought, _absolute shit, why do you have to be so fucking creepy!?_ She slid down against the wall next to the window, out of sight completely, putting her head in her hands.

He was mesmerizing in a way that attractive men can be, but there was something else about him, whether his attitude or his almost unnatural hair color, she felt like he had plenty of secrets that no one knows. He was just so peculiar, and was that a fucking smile coming to his lips when he saw her? _Ugh that just makes me want to get to know him- no, no he's no good, Hermione look at him,_ she thought desperately as she stole a glance out the window from the floor once more. His sunglasses were back in place and he took another drag from the almost gone cigarette in his hand before he crushed it and threw it aside nonchalantly. L _ogically you're better than him, he's a useless smoker. Yes, ew he's vile, definitely a tool nonetheless, probably some frat arse anyway. Don't waste your time._ She made up her mind then, yes, she would ignore his attractiveness for the fact his personality was probably most definitely shit. She found that out to be true for quite a few guys here anyway without getting to know them, so he would be no different.

She continued to peek over the edge of the window sill, his frame moved gracefully with the cigarette discarded, and he ran his hand through his hair. It was completely intoxicating and Hermione had no idea why. She couldn't stop watching; he just drew her in like a spectacular firework show or a crazy car crash. _No, fuck this! Who do you think you are stealing my thoughts?! Ugh!_ She scoffed out loud in her frustration, feeling as if he personally harmed her or something. She left the empty classroom right then, determined to gain the upper hand, even though she had nothing to prove. She had to approach him, ask him what his problem was, ask him who he was, why he had stared, something! It was only logical to find out why he was so damn intriguing! And as she grasped the doorknob a hint of a little magic was at her fingertips.

By the time Hermione got down the three flights of stairs to the lobby of the Roost she was out of breath and the nervousness kicked in. _Wait, what the hell am I doing? What would he say, what would he do?! What the fuck would I even say back?!_ She stopped just inside one of the doors and bit her lip, but then again Hermione was never the scared sort. _If I approach him and he runs off then it's no biggie, I'm saved from all of this!_ She opened the door with a brave face of determination and immediately let out a huff of hot air. She went from ambitious to annoyed in two seconds flat; he was nowhere in sight the railing bare and not a trace of white blonde could be found as she stood in the sunlight on the stairs. _Figures… all the good ones slither away. Ugh! No! he's NOT good, he's definitely NOT,_ she reminded herself. She walked back through the Roost after one last scan of the grounds, wanting to avoid the enormous amount of annoying freshman still caught in the golden shine of glorious college living. She headed out of the lobby into the circular hall (the classrooms were in the center, a hallway wrapped around the outside). Eventually she made her way to the bus stop outside the coffee house on west campus, all the while thinking about stupid frat boys, incoming freshman, and missed chances. She grabbed a coffee before heading on the next bus and making her way to her apartment downtown, staring out the window the entire way to try to get white blonde hair out of her mind.

She lived in a corner apartment building, all brick and old school styled, on the fifth floor. She shared it with Erin, a snobby girl that was decent most of the time, whom she had met last year in her film class. They both needed a roommate and became friends enough to live together, so it just worked out well. It wasn't until they started living together they realized they were pretty good friends. They liked each other more than they'd admit, probably because it gave them both a sense that they belonged, as Erin had made off handed comments a few times about her stressful high school life as well. Their apartment had bedrooms on either side of a joint kitchen and living room, the latter of which was wide and spacious, with floor length windows overlooking the street and city below.

When she got in the door, Erin was in the shower, a note scrawled across the white board on the fridge in her hand saying "Bitches getting fucked up tonight or what?" and she knew that meant friends were coming over later. Well, might as well find a decent outfit ahead of time, for she knew she'd be going with them even if she had planned to just read in her room tonight and maybe grade the final papers from the summer class she'd student taught. She guessed it wouldn't hurt to have fun tonight, classes didn't start until Monday and it was Friday. And the grades weren't due until next week at least.

Erin had made it clear when she was moving some stuff in from her car that she had just broken up with her girlfriend from the summer, so she was in one of her moods where she was desperate for anything with a sex drive. She always got that way after a bad breakup, convinced she should go for anyone willing, regardless of gender. But she always wound up back with another girl anyway; always beautiful and kind so it was hard to believe Erin was always getting broken up with to begin with since the girls she picked seemed harmless.

But it didn't matter, Erin was happy with her lifestyle, and that suited Hermione just fine. Hermione wondered what party they'd be headed to tonight. It was only the second move-in day she figured something had to be brewing up with the soccer team, or maybe the swimmers, they always came back early and were known to show everyone a great time. The soccer team had a new goalie, she only knew because Erin had texted her freaking out about him this summer; maybe she wasn't completely over guys? Nah, it was the accent for sure. He was from Germany, and as she looked at outfits Hermione couldn't help but smile at the thought of a dashing foreigner asking her if she wanted another drink. She looked through her closet for something good, and managed to find tight black jeans and a dark red top that was cropped perfectly to her torso. It wasn't her favorite color but it looked great on her, and why not sport school colors tonight, if they so happened to run into the soccer team anyway, she'd have something to talk about. She picked out some boots and placed them at the end of her bed before looking at herself in her full length mirror.

 _I need to fix this,_ she said to herself, staring at some dark circles under her eyes. She was just finishing her makeup to her liking when Erin popped her head in the door frame. Her short black hair was still wet, clinging to her neck as she stood in just her towel, still steamy from her shower.

"Hey, who you trying to get at tonight? Damn girl," she chuckled as she admired Hermione in the mirror.

"Um, no one unless you do your thing on this fucking mess I call hair," Hermione stated as she pointed to her head. It wasn't that her hair was ugly, but it had the tendency of, how would you put it? getting away from Hermione's control; frizzy and crazy if she let it go too long without brush or attention. And that happened sort of frequently with Hermione; she was lazy in that aspect. Erin had become a master at taming the wild frizz, making Hermione's curls look softer and hang straight. It was a bit of a process but Erin never said no.

"You really need to learn how on your own," Erin said while taking a few strands in her hands. "I mean, really you should just hack it all off, it's of no use, no consequence, and alas your nights would be easier!" she exclaimed in a false old fashion-y voice.

"Then by all means we must cut if off! My bald head will shine with the glory of my ancestors around any party we enter, with you on my arm to take the credit!" Hermione laughed, pulling her hair back as if she were bald, in a similar voice to Erin's.

"Oh fuck no, I will never let you do that," Erin shrieked, swatting Hermione's hands away so she didn't look insane. "Okay, okay enough with the old timer voices. Let me get some clothes on and then, we tame!" She gestured to Hermione's hair before making a grand exit to her room. _Tonight will be fun, that's all there is to it,_ Hermione smiled determinedly to herself in the mirror having had her senses rejuvenated by her comical roommate.

After the hair taming, Hermione helped Erin find a suitable outfit, and then put on her own before coming back out into the living room to pour herself some wine from the huge box Erin had placed on the counter. It was nearly 8 o clock, and Christine and Therese would be arriving any minute. Hermione sipped on her wine as she flipped through CDs of music to put on. Erin waltzed around the living room, staring out the huge front windows at the people walking around below. As the music began to play, there was a knock on the door, and the festivities began…


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

She looked around the room, a buzz playing nicely along with bass heavy music that seemed to shake the house. They had gone up town to a lazy street that had many student houses on it, all big with odd angled rooms that landlords made from basic floor plans. She sipped from a cup full of liquor, the taste sweet but strong in her mouth, something she hadn't had in quite some time. It was a welcome feeling, to be tipsy and carefree with a bunch of other college kids, before all the hardship of school life began to pick up.

It was one of those times where she felt she belonged, at least a little bit more so than she normally did. And her friends always made her happy. Today was eventful in the sense that too much peculiar stuff had happened, what with the red headed girl's magic hairstyle change or that intriguing young man with the blonde fringe, she just hadn't felt right the rest of the day. She had even accidentally done magic without realizing as she was reading on the couch today, the tip of the piece of hair she was twirling in her fingers had started to turn blue. She needed to relax more than she thought.

But now, amongst friends with the warmth of alcohol filling her veins, she felt the peculiarities melt away. Hermione and the three other girls had made their way to the first house on the street, where the music was loud and people poured out onto the balconies above. They headed right for drinks and proceeded to feel out the territory they had just set foot in. Hermione scanned the crowd for any familiar faces, from classes or the two or three other friends that hadn't begun the night at their apartment who were known to be floating around a party somewhere on this street.

The room was dark, lit only with strings of small lights that roped and curled around the banister of a great staircase in the center of the room. It created an interesting glow, perfect for drunken escapades and crazy hookups. The stairs were topped with a long balcony that disappeared into rooms beyond and gave access to the outside balcony they had seen when they approached. The hallway at the top of the stairs overlooked an open floor where the lights were darker, flashing to the beat, and bodies moved in sync and chaotically about in some semblance of dancing. A lot of people looked more involved in their dance partner to care what moves they were doing and to Hermione it looked more or less like an erotic, but scarily bad, strip show than anything. She was definitely not drunk enough for that yet. She took a large gulp of the pink liquid in her cup and swallowed it quickly.

She perched herself onto the top of a table that was awkwardly placed just off the side of the staircase. It gave a good view of the archway that was the balcony and the floor of dancers. From her spot she could see a lot of the room and even into the backyard under the stairs, where a patio was also packed with people. Erin and Christine started dancing in front of Hermione, having already downed their first glass and making significant gains on their second.

They looked kind of adorable and kind of funny, Hermione thought, admiring the boldness of her friends. She wasn't against making a fool out of herself, at least if she was having fun, but she definitely needed a little more liquid encouragement. She sipped generously on her cup again and gazed around the room. That was the fun of parties for Hermione, it gave her ample time to people watch and she learned so many interesting things from doing so.

There was a guy and girl pressed against a wall, the girl twirling her hair in an attempt to get his attention. And he wasn't ignoring her for lack of a better word as his hand grazed her hip. Off to the side of the dance floor near the keg, a group of four guys were chanting a fifth's name as he held a funnel full of beer to his lips. What a hilarious social experiment that would make, the behavioral analysis of male students when alcohol is involved, she thought, giggling to herself. She continued to look around, swaying to the music.

After a little while, Erin got her attention again quite eagerly, and pointed up the staircase to a tall boy with a small ponytail at the base of his neck. It was one of the boys from the soccer team, she knew because he had taken her summer class, and Erin was beyond excited. "Do you think the new guy's here too?! I would actually die!" she screamed over the noise of the music, getting up on her tip-toes to look around the crowd a little better.

Hermione set her cup down quickly and looked around excitedly; scanning the crowd for the tall, foreign boy she had only seen in photographs. A rambunctious couple of girls ran by knocking Hermione's cup clean off the table. Half the booze in the cup splashed down her leg and the front of the table in seconds. The remainder of the contents however went further, splashing onto a pair of white canvas shoes that were striding past that very second. Hermione was distracted by the punch on her own jeans to notice the stranger, who had abruptly stopped in front of her.

She blinked a couple times trying to see if the drink stained her jeans, but it seemed fine. When she finally noticed the person in front of her, her breathe caught in her throat. A head of white blonde hair gave way to a face of sharp lines, anger evident in the cold stare he gave back.

Hermione was speechless, she had not expected to see him again, let alone here. It was the boy she'd been mesmerized by earlier today by the window. He was almost more handsome than she remembered, despite his current look of hatred for her. Unfortunately for Hermione, her breathing was unsteady from both the course of events and the person it happened to be. His grey eyes felt like steel, boring into her more intensely than a spilled drink warranted. Her eyes followed down his arms, where his fists were clenched.

"I- I- I'm so sorry, really," Hermione stumbled on her words. He looked so angry and she was struck with confusion. She usually had no problem standing up for herself, but she was so taken aback by his blatant fury that she was speechless. When she finally found her voice she tried to be as logical as possible. "It really was an accident, if you'd just let me, get a towel or something I could-" she started to say as she hopped off the table.

"Don't even," he stated sharply cutting her off, taking a step back and holding up a hand to tell her to keep her distance. He looked much less standoffish earlier today and now it was really irking her that he turned out to be such a jerk. _Proves I was right about his personality at least,_ she thought as he continued his rant. "Really, you've already done quite enough here. Get the hell out of my way," he eyed her one last time, disgust written across his face, and he turned to go up the stairs.

The stairs were congested with people and that seemed to fuel his annoyance even more. "Fucking move!" he barked, loud enough to be heard over the music and people quickly got out of his way. He vanished up the stairs and Hermione wasn't the only one staring at his wake; others were confused, some fearful and some interested. Two girls actually got up and followed him, their eyes sparked with interest of a different kind. Hermione hoped they knew what they were doing.

She sat not talking for some time, pondering the peculiar and arrogant boy that had just left her presence. Erin noticed and followed her gaze, catching a glimpse of the boy walking away. "Who was that?" Erin winked, obviously completely missing the entire ordeal. She handed Hermione a new glass however, and Hermione gulped a large portion of it right then and there.

"A douchebag whining over a spilled drink," Hermione huffed loudly.

Erin was craning her neck to catch another glimpse of him. "He looked good though Hermione, maybe his shoes won't be the only wet thing from you he'll have to deal with tonight." She winked at Hermione and then dashed away; Hermione looked furious, her hands balled into fists.

"Don't be like that Erin, he was actually a huge jerk! It was a total accident and he comes at me like I'd plotted that spill for years!" Erin looked up at Hermione, feeling bad for her friend's unfortunate encounter. _What a shame. He was pretty good looking, Erin wasn't lying, but that attitude would scare away even the bitchiest girls,_ she thought to herself. She finished off the cup and when Erin pulled on her arm to get her dancing, she went willingly, hoping to forget who and what just happened seconds ago.

She began dancing, the alcohol taking full effect through her body and soon she didn't care who saw her. She decided she just had to forget everything and let herself go or she would go crazy too. He had made her upset for a little while but she wouldn't let some pompous arse who only cared about his stupid white shoes get her down. She was laughing and waving her arms around with Erin and Christine in no time, the lights making everything look brilliant and pretty. After five or six fun songs she was parched and warm, so she grabbed everyone's now empty cups and ran off to refill them.

She took two deep breaths as she waited in line, still a little out of breath from dancing. She smoothed her hair with her free hand and looked around the room again, noticing that the couple she had seen canoodling earlier was nowhere in sight, and the boys who had been chanting for their friend were now holding another boy from the group up to do a keg stand. _What a riot,_ she thought to herself giggling. It was good to get her mind elsewhere.

However Hermione's irritation quickly came back because of how long the line was taking. Three extremely drunk girls in front of her were having trouble using the lever; they didn't appear to be the brightest girls in the room, especially with how drunk they already seemed. To her dismay, a frat boy saw the sight and decided to use his genius skills to help them out. He was also quite dim witted and spent a great deal of time chatting the girls up before actually attempting to help out in any way. They were now all blocking her way and still attempting to use the stopper; it was quite ridiculous.

The longer she waited, the more she felt someone getting closer and closer behind her. Looking over her shoulder she saw a girl being teased by a boy while they danced, no idea they were continuously grazing Hermione with their stupid excuse for dancing. Her short string of a temper was being pulled shorter. Five minutes later they still hadn't moved and a line was forming behind Hermione. She was about to tell them off in all her irritation when the couple who had been dancing earlier lost their balance. The boy had let go of the girl accidently and she came crashing, very ungracefully, into Hermione.

Hermione was sent sideways in seconds, the only thoughts in her mind were how disgusting the floors were and how she did not want to end up on them. Attempting to regain her balance, she grabbed the closest thing to her and came crashing to the floor in a heap. Hermione looked around and found herself uncomfortably atop two young men who had been chatting nearby. The closest thing to her had been one of the boy's arms, and now it was evident that she had toppled onto them, taking them to the ground with her. She found herself astride one's lap, her arms sprawled across the other's chest.

As she pushed up on his strong frame, she looked upon a handsome face that was smiling back at her. _Well, this could work in my favor…_ She blushed and turned away; he was quite attractive, his brown skin was lovely and made his dark eyes appear even warmer. Maybe her luck was beginning to turn around tonight.

"Well, this is quite unexpected, but I'm not complaining," the boy chuckled to her. She was about to retort, _damn he was lovely_ , but the other boy was not as kind.

"Ugh! Get off!" she heard. She felt a harsh shove on her lower half and immediately turned in confusion.

"Oh calm down, we're all in the same boat here! No need to be so fucking pushy-" she was saying as she turned around to look at the source of the prodding. But her sentence was cut short as she registered what, or who, exactly was behind her. Her lower half just so happened to be draped over the lap of a very disgruntled blonde who, for the second time that night, eyed Hermione with a look of pure loathing when he saw her.

"Bloody fucking hell," he said, his gray eyes leeching into her with disgust. _Oh no,_ thought Hermione, biting her lip in nervousness. She usually wasn't scared easily, but he was by far the most intimidating person her age that she had met in a long time, and it was the second time tonight she'd gotten in his way.

"You really should think twice about the ones that just throw themselves at you Blaise," an evil smile came to his lips as he looked at Hermione, who was instantly offended. It was one thing to be mad that she knocked him over, but to insult her personally without even knowing her? That was downright rude. _What a prat!_

Her eyes narrowed in his direction. "And what, may I ask, is that supposed to mean exactly? You have no idea who I am, how can you make judgements over my character like that?" she said, hoping to get a rise out of him with her logical question.

He turned away instead of responding, brushing his jeans off and making extra care to pull down on his left sleeve which was still rolled in that ridiculous fashion. _What a fucking dumb way to wear a shirt,_ she thought and she caught a glimpse of a line of tattoo ink on his forearm before he pulled it all the way down. Hermione was curious but she didn't have time to think about it further as she realized she was now directly in the arms of the other boy.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" she began sheepishly, looking at him their faces very close.

"Quite incidental really," the boy said and he smiled again, charming her as he helped them both up. "Are you alright? As for my friend well, I can't say I'm surprised with his reaction but, nonetheless I apologize for him, he's a little... um, distracted."

She looked over at the blonde then, anger rising up in her stomach as she thought about his blatant rudeness to her for the second time that night when she clearly did nothing wrong. It wasn't her fault he was "distracted." _What the hell did that even mean anyway?_ Her facial expression must have reflected her thoughts, as Blaise chimed in again.

"Um, are you sure you're alright? Has his attitude really made you as angry as that look on your face says you are because if so, I wouldn't want to be him," the boy laughed and Hermione was taken aback. She hadn't realized she was staring at the blonde with such viciousness and she immediately sighed to try to get rid of some of the anger. Her emotions were all over the place today and it seemed they wouldn't stop unless she showed some more self-control. She closed her eyes for a second.

"Yes thank you, really, for your kindness. I truly didn't mean to, someone pushed me, it _was_ an accident," she stated the last part loudly, directing it to the blonde who was still sulking nearby. He was ignoring her completely, busy looking at the girls who had been trying to get to the punch. They were now fishing their cups inside, the lid long discarded, in a haphazard, drunken way; it was a strange sight and his wrinkled brow definitely said so. Regardless, she'd hoped he heard her.

"No problem, really. I'm Blaise, by the way," Holding out his hand; she didn't have time to shake it. The blonde grabbed his arm instead and pulled him away towards the door.

"Excuse us, but I'm not one to honor courtesies," the blonde said walking away with Blaise in tow, "and I wouldn't want yours anyway." He stated over his shoulder. He smiled as if he were just stating facts and disappeared.

Her mouth dropped open in outrage at his rudeness once more, and as she was about to call him out when her anger froze in her veins. In an instant the anger was replaced with the cool feel of magic. She could feel it coursing through her now, sparking in her fingertips. It caught her completely off guard; _this hasn't happened in ages! I'm usually under control! Ugh!_

Sometimes when she was particularly emotional through her childhood, she would have occasions when the magic would flow too strong. She caused quite a few problems as a kid and quickly came to realize how she had to keep her emotions under control. Now, years later, she could do small tasks for herself, she was that well in control. When she was in solitude she marveled at her hidden talent. But this outbreak was unacceptable; if she didn't watch it, she would have a bigger problem on her hands than a moody blonde boy and his nice friend.

She was brought back to reality when the girls in front of her finally got their punch out and passed by her on their way back to dancing. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and took to refilling her friends' cups, silently fuming. _What the fuck, why does he keep doing this to me? It was a bloody accident for God's sakes! He's impossible,_ she reeled the thoughts through her mind vigorously.

Gathering all the cups and turning around, she took several deep breaths to ease the magic back inside her. _I need to just- calm. Down. Ugh, why can't I just have a decent night without feeling like I'm going insane?! Fuck him and his shitty insults._

When she got back to Erin and the girls, they could tell she was upset. The anger was still fuming around her, her magic concealed. She obviously spilled the whole story to them, starting from seeing him this morning, thinking he was attractive but then seeing the cigarette, and how she thought he was probably just another dumb boy. He seemed too arrogant for her by far but she included how she felt that something was peculiar about him.

"Hermione like I said earlier, most guys here are begging for a shag, he probably just hasn't gotten laid in a while. Why don't you just go on and find him?" Erin sang, winking again. She had a bad habit of not letting things go and it was starting to piss Hermione off. "I mean, come on he was far from unattractive and a little fooling around would just ease the tension, don't you think?" She stuck her tongue out; clearly the alcohol had hit her system well. She laughed too hard at her own joke and spit out the gulp she had just taken.

"Um, no, I'm positive that would not help one bit! He pushed me off him for a mere accident and basically called me a slut okay, no,'" she revealed, trying to play off like it didn't hurt her feelings.

"What? You didn't say that earlier! Come on, that's just plain pathetic!" Christine put an arm around Hermione in empathy. Hermione explained his off-hand comment to his friend about her willingness to just jump on guys and how he took his cute friend away. Her friends were far from amused.

"Okay, okay, you've made it clear we need to like, beat this kid up. So how are we going to get back at him?" mused Erin in her best attempt at comfort. Hermione smiled at her.

"Thanks for the support girls, but this is on me. I'm just angry, like who does he think he is though? He doesn't even _know_ me!" They all nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, it's okay Erin next time I see him I'll give him a large piece of my mind. All that fucking staring at me and that fucking superiority complex! Ugh!" Her anger was still quick at the surface, probably more so than she felt because of the alcohol that was sliding through her veins. She was nearly half done with her cup already and just thinking about him and his outrageous attitude problems made her want to finish it.

 _Why was he so pissed though?_ She really hadn't done anything wrong; pure accidents did not warrant such harshness in return. All she could recall were his eyes, flashing and brilliant and so… so… _What was it about them?_ Her anger paused from the interested thought. _They were just so guarded. Looking at them it's like, like he makes me want to know what he's actually thinking. Because he sure knows how to put on an act…_ She wondered again about his past and exactly what kind of stupid secrets he had hidden behind those eyes. _Hopefully something embarrassing._

"We could just go find him you know," suggested Christine, watching Hermione intently. Hermione had thrown her cup to the ground when she finished, a look of hatred coming back to her features like she was ready for a fight.

"Yeah, I'll piss in his drink, or at least spit in it. What a little shit," Erin piped up, running around Hermione to come by her side. Hermione thought about it and she had to admit, it sounded like a great plan right about now. A smile softened her features as she tried to let go of some of the tension.

"Well then maybe I would finally get an explanation for all this bullshit and his look of disgust at me and why I can't stop thinking about him and-" she caught herself there, and felt suddenly embarrassed. They might be best friends, but she felt like a little girl caught crushing on some guy, and in university that's just lame. He wasn't the first guy she'd seen in passing and thought was good looking; but his bad boy attitude came on far too strong, in an arrogant way that fueled dislike. But even still, she couldn't put her finger on just why he had been on her mind all day.

"Can't stop thinking about him?! I thought you said you thought he was hot, not that you were crazy about him! Oh boy this gets better and better! Ah!" Therese shrieked. "Hermione and the black lunged blondie! What a toss!"

"I thought you two had only just met! It's love at first sight!" Christine laughed, but Hermione looked at her friends, her expression begging them to stop.

"I love it! Ha! Let's go find him! Please please please!"

"Oh shut it Erin! The lot of you! I just meant- I don't know what I meant, but he just- he makes me so ugh- fucking furious!" Hermione snorted. She was beginning to lose her temper again, both from thinking about him and from her friends pestering her.

She shot down Erin's next few remarks, which all seemed to revolve around the question if the carpet matched the drapes for platinum blondes. Hermione changed the subject, lest he vomit. They decided to cheer Hermione up by dancing. In no time, Erin's goofy moves and Therese's luck with weird, unwanted dance partners was enough to get her mind off things.

…

After quite a few songs and drinking games later, the atmosphere of the party died down. It was still early in the night, so all hope wasn't lost and Hermione was determined now to enjoy it. The faster they changed pace, the better Hermione felt so she rushed them onward. They decided to scout out the swim house; those crazy athletes were sure to still be raging on. Hermione was fairly intoxicated, the bliss of alcohol and friends was melting away the terrible events of earlier and she was finally loosening up again.

Soon enough the girls were traversing the street, the air nice and warm on their dance sweated skin. Hermione and Christine put their arms out and walked in the street, laughing at themselves and Erin's stumbling gait behind them. The subject of the stupid blonde and his nice friend had not come up for some time and she was happy, but Erin would not let it rest; they soon heard her voice pipe up amongst the silence of the stars.

"What if we see him again Hermione? Ah what will you do?! Will the booze do the talking, I love when you let the booze do the talking! It's the absolute BEST," Erin's voice echoed loudly down the street as she walked, not a care in the world.

Hermione hadn't been paying attention but she heard her name and turned around. Erin was however, referring to the fact that every time Hermione got drunk she tended to go one of two ways: scouting out the most impossible guy to snag at a party and trying to get with him (which actually turned out in her favor quite often) or, was a whirlwind of fury for anyone that crossed her in the littlest of ways. Earlier tonight, she had been leaning towards the latter. Now she really hoped she could just find an attractive man at the next house and really have a good night.

She smiled at her friends, walking backwards to listen to Erin talk on about her hopes of Hermione telling off the blonde if they were to see him again. Hermione's thoughts drifted slowly back to the boy that had finally vacated her mind about an hour ago. Annoyance now accompanied the alcohol buzzing through her head as she contemplated him. His brooding good-looks would almost be admirable if they weren't marked with so much arrogance. It made her mad that she thought he was good looking, because she now knew the truth of how much of a jerk he was.

As she walked trying to think of a response to Erin, she caught sight of the tattoo on Erin's leg. It was a rose and the way the vines wrapped around it clicked in Hermione's mind; didn't she see a tattoo on his arm or was that just the lighting? He was covering a bad tattoo for sure! Another secret he was hiding…

"Oh, I just remembered! He had a tattoo on his arm, but he was covering it with his sleeve like, like he was trying to hide it. The other sleeve was rolled, he looked ridiculous! He probably got it on some drunk night, I hope it's stupid. I hope it's ugly!" she sneered to Erin, who just laughed at Hermione's anger.

"Ugh I hate him, so bloody much and I don't even know him!" Hermione screamed the words out into the night, considering her last statement. Okay, so maybe she was stooping to his level, it was true she didn't know him either. But, she reminded herself quickly, thinking logically. _At least I have evidence of his pompousness, I'm justified!_

"God, what a loony he is Hermione! I'm glad you were angry, he deserves nothing but the worst!" Christine chimed in, giggling all the while. None of them could seem to stop.

With that Hermione felt empowered, knowing her friends were on her side. She was reminded she wasn't acting completely crazy about the situation. She said, "If I do see him again I'll let that booze talk Erin and I'll go off on him! All about cigarettes and ill placed tattoos and how to actually talk to a girl for once in his dismal life!" And with that she looked at Erin, who ran up to her hugging her waist and laughing her head off. Her heels made her trot along with Hermione in a very wobbly walk, but she held on anyway.

"Ah ha ha! I've taught you so well girl! So fucking well!" Erin could barely talk between laughs. "On to the next party! And may it be graced with blonde headed arses!"

"Does that mean we each get one?" Therese piped up from the front of the line, grinning. Their banter made Hermione feel relieved and she couldn't help the snorts of laughter escaping her mouth.

"Everybody gets a blonde arse! Plenty to go round!" Christine giggled. Hermione laughed loudly again and smiled at her friends relaxing. The anger that was building at the beginning of the conversation was starting to ebb.

"You get one and I get one and you get one! Everybody gets one!" Hermione pointed to her friends one at a time, laughing hysterically. They were all clearly intoxicated and the night was just starting to pick up.

Hermione was still walking backwards and wasn't paying any attention to where she was going. Erin was holding one of her hands and Christine pulled out her camera for photos. Therese hung back to get in line with them and they all posed, continuing to walk as Christine snapped picture after picture.

"Black lunged blondie, so bloody dirty, little ole Hermione, oh so- OW!" Erin chuckled, trying to be funny, but her rhyme was cut short as Hermione hit her on the back of the head with her palm. The next few photos were of Erin laughing her head off as Hermione pouted and slapped at her.

"That's quite enough from you Erin, you're a vicious drunk!" Hermione said, still trying to get at her. The girls were now running around in the street, not a care in the world and definitely not paying attention as they did so. Up ahead of them was a house with a large front porch; a few people were hanging out on it and a heavy bass was coming from within the large, broken but open front door.

"Get back here you annoying little freak!" Hermione yelled at Erin, who had ran around and around Christine and Therese as they continued towards the house. In seconds their fun was cut short though, as out of nowhere a young man had bent over to tie their shoe and, amidst their yelling back and forth, neither Hermione nor Erin seemed to notice.

"But the black-lunged blondie of your dreams is here tonight, Hermione!" Erin cooed back, hoping to keep Hermione going. Neither of them noticed as a boy from a group in front of them had stopped to stoop down and tie his shoe. If they didn't watch it, they would be on top of him in no time.

"Oh bollocks! Watch out!" Christine tried to warn, but the girls didn't have time to comprehend. Everything happened at once; Hermione tried to grab hold of Erin, who just managed to jump over the young man in the street, but she was too late. She came crashing down on the boy, who had just looked up at her, not expecting to be taken down whilst tying a shoe lace.

Expecting the worst, Hermione had closed her eyes in anticipation of the impact. Instead of hitting hard pavement though, she found herself again on top of the person she'd crashed into. When she pushed herself up from the pavement and the boy, she looked down to see a pair of white canvas shoes right in front of her face. They seemed to be stained with splashes of pink punch. _Shit._ She knew why her fall was not as bad as it should have been, but she almost wished it had for it was better than the sight of grey eyes like daggers when she looked up at the face the shoes belonged to.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," the blonde boy stated simply as he looked up at the girls in front of him. She hastily removed herself from his vicinity and, after he tied the lace, he stood up with the aggression of a confronted wolf. "You are the worst excuse for a graceful girl I have ever seen," he spat at her, turning his back to them.

He towered over Hermione who was still on the ground; she felt the anger in her, bubbling up her throat as she heard the third insult of the night. He looked over his shoulder with stone cold features. "And my lungs are by far the least black and tarnished thing about me," he drawled with a hint of hidden meaning. A smirk crept to his lips for a moment but vanished as if he were already bored of the conversation.

"What exactly is your problem?" Hermione glared at him as she got up, brushing off her jeans and shoving his shoulder to turn him around. Her hands were on her hips and she looked furious. The blonde looked outraged at her touch, like she'd just smeared mud on his clothes or something, and Hermione was just reminded of his pretentiousness.

"Draco! Hey, come on! We're going!" a deep voice called from the front steps of the house that was just up ahead. Hermione recognized the voice, and looked over to see the nice boy from earlier, Blaise, standing on the steps waving to the blonde. He was standing on the massive front steps with two or three other boys, all waiting to go inside.

He turned for one last look at them all, chuckling at Hermione's stance when he noticed it. He flashed a wicked smile, his grey eyes piercing angrily, as he said, "You should know better than to attempt to talk to me _or_ my friends again." He was obviously speaking of Blaise since he tilted his head in the direction of the stairs. He could tell Hermione recognized him. "I expect that to be quite clear. Now, actually act like you understood what I said and make an effort to stay the fuck out of my way," and with that he turned on his heel and strode to the house, climbing the stairs easily to reach Blaise, whom he clapped on the back as they disappeared inside.

Hermione blinked, staring angrily at the spot he had just been, and then again at the stairs. "Was that a _threat?_ Who does he fucking think he _is_?!" She snarled. Her anger had reached an all-time high, pulsing through her along with the alcohol. Erin, Christine and Therese all backed up. "Oh, oh he is so dead. Let's fucking go," she said, as she began strutting off down the road right towards the house with the massive front steps and the flashing lights.

Erin grinned viciously before letting out a howl of laughter, running to catch up with Hermione. "I think the alcohol is going to be doing some talking girls," Erin sang to them as they hurried to keep up with Hermione's furious pace. Hermione had heard Erin and turned her head over her shoulder.

"Yes. And he better be able to hold his liquor," Hermione said, the anger menacing in her eyes. As she walked there was no mistaking the tinge of magic that was itching her fingertips to get out. Her anger mixed with it, creating a poisonous fury that would only take a little bit to set off.

At the door, where the frat boys were charging people for entrance, she instantly became a vixen, licking her lips and smiling at the boy holding the door open. She leaned into him, whispering in his ear with a twinkle in her eyes. They hadn't seen this Hermione in some time, but to hell if she wasn't going to use empty words to get into the party even easier.

The boy handed the girls each a cup with no problem or money and proceeded to escort them inside. The house opened up to a vast room that looked like it had once been three separate ones; the bar looked wooden, like the boys had made it themselves from ply wood bought at the hardware store. It stretched the entire south wall and once he got the attention of one of the boys serving behind the bar, the boy excused himself to finish manning the door, not after giving Hermione his name and number.

She grabbed the paper and smiled, crumbling it and throwing it to the floor once he'd left. The bartender tried to flirt with the girls in much the same way, but once he caught sight of Hermione's furious features he quickly backed off. He filled their cups rather hastily and turned to another group of girls next to them.

 _Where the fuck is he? His busted face should be easy to spot here,_ she fumed as she searched for him amongst the sea of fellow students before her. She kept her eyes open for the blonde or for Blaise, both of whom should have been easy to spot. _Blaise, his much better looking, nicer, all around better friend_ , she told herself, so her anger didn't completely spill over too soon.

The girls got their drinks and sipped on them, leaning now against an open wall adjacent to the bar. Hermione continued to scan the room; Erin was busy whispering nonsense fighting words into Hermione's ear while Christine and Therese looked around, gossiping about the frat brothers they most likely wanted to take home. Hermione only half listened for she knew she wanted nothing more from this night than to piss off the blonde boy in the same way he had pissed her off.

 _Why did he have to be such a rude piece of shit to me?_ She thought intently. I _t's not like I actually did ANYTHING! Why couldn't he just piss off without opening his fat pompous mouth?_ She justified to herself, _Anyway, it doesn't matter! He sucks regardless I don't even know why but he sucks, he's rude, and I'm going to set him so straight he'll be fucked up for so long he'll have to- Ah ha!_

And in that moment Hermione laid eyes on her target. He was at the exact opposite side of the bar, leaning against a staircase downing his glass with a pretentious looking posse all around him. Hermione stared with maliciousness, scrutinizing everything about him. His ankles were crossed and his sleeves were still rolled in that ridiculous manner that, on any other guy, wouldn't look as ridiculous but it only infuriated her more. The other boys paid no attention to this oddity, instead they laughed along with him as he seemed to be telling some outlandish story. He was the leader of the pack of boys and she could tell he was drinking it up like the alcohol in his cup, feeding off the attention they all gave him. She sneered at this; _he just thinks he's so fucking great_.

His free hand waved in the air loftily and, as he then ran it through his hair, Hermione had to look away. For just a second, she felt a more lusty anger find its way to her body, but she shook her head to clear it. She didn't know where it came from and definitely didn't think it was a true feeling anyway. _I'm definitely NOT liking this, him, not one bit, not like that_ , she thought, and that made her furious all over again at the mere thought that this simple gesture could make her swoon. _Definitely. Not. At. All._

Downing the last of her cup in one swallow, Hermione stood up straight and marched over to where the boys were circled around the blonde. She held her chest high and flipped her hair out of her face, looking much like an owl swooping in on unexpected prey. The boys were taken aback and all conversation stopped abruptly. Most of them shifted their feet, choosing to look away and avoid confrontation; her face was visibly readable, anger written all over it. She didn't appear like someone you'd want to cross.

Blaise didn't notice her at first, still laughing over something the blonde had just said. He, on the other hand, had narrowed his eyes instantly upon her approach, standing up straight and taking the few extra steps towards her to close the gap. They were in each other's faces then, Hermione reaching just above his shoulder but that didn't stop the verbal assault waiting behind her pursed lips. Blaise smiled upon seeing her about to say hi, until he realized the confrontation that was about to go down in front of him. He backed off, looking like he wanted to stop it but not knowing how, so he just swirled the drink in his cup instead.

"You foul little creature! Who the hell do you think you are, ordering me around like I'm some kind of scum behind you?! You have no authority, no right to tell me who I can and cannot talk to," she glanced at Blaise who made a face that he was staying out of this. "Now normally I would suggest you take that sad excuse for a personality and shove it up your asshole, but I fear it's already too far up there because your ugly face surely reflects it."

Midway through her rant, Hermione's friends had caught up with her and stood behind her. Erin was cracking on a piece of gum, while Christine and Therese sneered at them in Hermione's triumph. When she finished, she smiled a wicked grin at her victory. The blonde, who's fists had been clenching and unclenching the entire speech, would have steam coming out of his ears if it had been possible. He clearly didn't like being called out and, as all his friends were right in the vicinity and heard every word, he was not amused one bit.

"Is that really what you're on about, my shitty personality? Well news flash darling, I already am quite aware of it. But please, feel free to get back to me when you finally can comprehend that there's shitty people all over the place in this world and your dismal excuse for a pretty face will only get you so far." His words were bitter and biting, intending them to hurt her where he knew a girl to be weak.

"Let me put it in the simplest terms possible for you, you cantankerous whore. My name is Draco Malfoy, a name you best learn fast. I am possibly one of the worst people you'll ever meet and it's not you personally I don't like, it is people like you who think you are just as privileged as me as you strut around in your skimpy outfits complaining about the next shitty thing to hit your life. Take two seconds away from binge drinking and dancing like whores and you'll notice I'm the least of your worries here in this hell hole we call a world, so how about you take yourself and your pathetic army of skanks away from me so I can enjoy my night," he stated sternly, never taking his eyes off her face, which had progressively reddened with embarrassment and further anger the entire time.

"I- I-," she huffed out, not being able to fully formulate words she was so livid. But Hermione was not the typical girl; her materialistic views could easily be put aside for her logical approach to every situation and she wasn't ready to give this fight up. She took a few deep breaths in order to devise a good retaliation.

An evil smile curled his lips and he tilted his head, "Ah, it seems the point has been made. Can the brave little slut come up with nothing in response?" he questioned as if he actually cared and he laughed to his friends. Most of them laughed along; Blaise gave a light chuckle, but looked apologetically at Hermione from behind his cup. Malfoy was also laughing, but before it could fully escape his lips, more words flung their way off Hermione's tongue and she took a step closer to Malfoy, who looked utterly uncomfortable with her closeness.

"I actually have a multitude of things to say, thank you very much _Malfoy,"_ the sound of his name felt vile on her tongue and she spoke it like it was the worst thing she'd ever had to say. "I know quite a lot about just how shitty this world can be. I have been through enough shit in my life but you don't even know me so how can you pass judgement as to whether I know that or not? Get with the program, times have changed; you don't go shitting on girls just to feel like a man and fuel your own selfish ego," she paused, letting the words sink in like talons. Malfoy stood without saying a word, an infuriating crease across his brow; he was not used to being called out on his ways.

"And you know, I don't think you want a sexist accusation on that stellar resume of yours, which I imagine is only full of other accounts of girls mentally abused by your seemingly complimentary actions. I'm sure the dean would love to hear of it too," she said, looking around at all the boys, whose faces looked nervous. Hermione was actually very good friends with the Dean because of her academic standings; she was a hardened, middle-aged woman who was known for advocacy in the student body's need for equality. This kind of assault would have made the front pages of the newspaper.

"But, since I'm not as cold-hearted of a bitch as you say I am, I'll save her the story of apetty ferret who has nothing going for him in this world other than his enormous ego that is probably compensating for something else…" she eyed Malfoy's belt when she said this. He was beyond furious now, his mouth gaping open in utter disbelief.

"Anyway, standing here in all your glory with your mouth open only proves to me my first thought, that your mouth is in fact capable of choking down all the dicks these lovely gentlemen behind you have graciously provided you, because I don't think they would actually hang out with you if you weren't providing them with some kind of sexual favor. I don't need you to remind me to not hang around you, I wouldn't want to even if you paid me, and please," she said holding up a hand because Malfoy was ready to explode with anger any second. She was clearly on a perfect roll, "I don't need you to tell me that daddy's little trust fund wouldn't give me a penny because frankly I don't really fucking care."

Erin shrieked in laughter as the boys could do nothing but stare in disbelief. Most of them were shocked, a few did laugh to Hermione's credit. It was by far a wicked comeback; Blaise had to cover his mouth with his hand to stifle his laughter at his best friend. As much as they were friends, Malfoy was a complete asshole, as he had mentioned, and definitely deserved it. Malfoy's dumbfounded face was proof enough that she had won, and she just smirked and waltzed away.

The girls proceeded away from the bar to the dance floor, where they went crazy with excitement. They were out of Malfoy's range and couldn't help but be proud of their best friend. "Hermione that was by far the greatest thing I have seen you do! Ah!" Christine screamed.

"Did you see his fucking face?! Oh my god Hermione, fucking beautiful!" cackled Erin, shaking Hermione's shoulders.

"Thanks girls, ugh that was so… so exhilarating! Ah! But wait, I do think I need an outfit that better suits my whore tendencies, no?" Hermione said sarcastically standing back to show her outfit to her friends, pretending to frown like it actually bothered her.

"Well obviously that can be arranged!" Erin said, grabbing at her skirt and hiking it up on her thigh. Normally she would have chastised Erin for such a thing, but she was too drunk and riding the high of getting back at Malfoy to care. The girls began dancing, not bothering to notice that Malfoy and his friends had made their way to the balcony overhead that happened to have a perfect view of the entire house. Malfoy glared with malice in her direction, downing alcohol like water in a desert. And Hermione couldn't have been bothered to notice or care.

…

"You know, if you squeeze that cup any harder, you'll stain your shoes even more than she already has," Blaise whispered to Malfoy, laughing at his own joke. But Malfoy wasn't laughing; he made a punch at Blaise, who backed away quickly hands up in defense. "Hey now, it was just a joke, chill out Draco."

"Hmpf. You just want to fuck her Blaise, don't try and deny it," Malfoy said, looking unamused and angry an hour later. They moved up to the balcony, the boys who had been with them making a quick exit after the fight with the muggle girl. _They were fucking thick as Crabbe and Goyle anyway,_ Draco thought, happy to be rid of them now, despite how much they were enjoying his stories and giving him all the limelight.

"And you don't?" Blaise asked up front, looking over at Malfoy with one eyebrow raised. "She was beyond charming when I talked to her and, you know, you might actually get along well with a muggle girl, if you at least tried."

Draco huffed at his friend's terrible suggestion, his eyes wandering back to the dance floor below. "That is by far the worst suggestion you've ever given. I don't ever plan on getting in bed with muggles, she was a right fucking cunt, that know-it-all bitch," he was clearly still mad at her.

"Well Malfoy, it's not exactly like you're Mr. Humble," Blaise said, "And anyway, any girl that can take your shit like that and spit it right back is worth at least a consideration. I haven't seen you that mad in a long time," he chuckled.

"Very funny Blaise," Malfoy sneered, and flicked some ash at him. "I might have agreed to come here for my mother's sake, but I'm still not sold on all these muggles. They can party, I'll give you that," Malfoy said, clinking glasses with Blaise, "and they might, by some miniscule excuse, be attractive but then I remember they're muggles and it's like all the acid boils in my stomach. I'd rather fuck a blast-ended skrewt or that little Weasley girl, and _that_ is saying something."

"Come on now, they're not that bad! Geez mate," Blaise said, choking a little on his drink. As he wiped his mouth he argued back, "You can't really be that prejudiced. We've been friends a long time now; you can't tell me all that blood purity bullshit actually stuck on you?" He waved his hand in front of Malfoy's face because he wasn't responding; he was staring at the dance floor lights swirling in front of him.

"Please, have you met my father? It's not like I'm a manipulative git by coincidence Blaise," Malfoy drawled, like this was common knowledge. "As a child I didn't know any better, you know that, and yes a lot of that stuff I was taught was bullshit, I found that out through my mum's own dissension. But I guess I never knew anything besides my own superiority and that's what they wanted. It made me try harder and it got me attention. And I liked that part of the deal," he smirked at this, recollecting all the times he had showed off for sheer popularity. The praise of others never far behind his wake; he drank it up like champagne bubbles or a strong shot of liquor.

"Then I went to school with you and I became friends with half-bloods from like, Ravenclaw, who was decent or whatever. I might have even let myself fool around with a half-blood once, I can't really remember, she was foreign," he looked off like he was remembering a really great night, and then looked back at Blaise. "Anyway, it's nice that they try but I definitely don't want to get with a real muggle," he looked disgusted again, like he just smelled rotten food. "We don't know enough about them, they're bizarre creatures really." He acted like he hadn't just summed up an entire life's worth of brainwashing racism into a compact paragraph justified by the fact they could at least give him an ego boost.

"You do realize it's so, so much more than that right?" Blaise looked incredulous at his best friend. Blaise knew Draco's childhood was terrible, hell, everyone knew that; his father was insane. But he thought by some stretch Draco would at least be more educated on muggles by now. Although, when Blaise thought about it, he never had seen Draco in a single muggle studies class.

"This isn't about if someone has 'dirty blood' or whatever that even means. They're not that bad, those old stories and rumors are long since proved wrong. We know a lot about muggles now. It's an issue of discrimination we are talking about here Draco," Blaise spoke softly but sternly, not breaking eye contact with Malfoy. "It's the real reason why you're so angry over that stupid mark on your arm and when you found out your father's real plans for you, even if you won't admit that."

"Okay okay, I get it. I'll lay off for fuck's sake, you sound like our mums," Malfoy scoffed at Blaise, rolling his eyes. He wanted the conversation to end. Now. He didn't want to talk about the reasons behind his actions of late, it made him feel vulnerable and he didn't like it one bit.

"Mate, I don't give a dragon's arse if I sound like my mum. We _should_ be sounding like them, at least they had the sense to get us out of there, and by Merlin can you be that self centered in your superiority that muggle girls actually disgust you that much? They're still girls mate! Girls! Maybe if you put down some of your ego for a little, you'd actually be able to accept the good ones. They really did a number on you this year before you left, didn' they?" Malfoy just looked away, not wanting to let Blaise have the satisfaction of being right, even if he was. "Did you actually see how you treated her, by the way, another human being?" Blaise countered, getting a little heated at his friend's disregard for the severity of the situation.

"Well, I- I- Wait. Why the bloody hell am I justifying myself to you? Why am I being interrogated at a fucking party over a girl who I was pettily mean to? She was a bitch, that's reason enough to dislike her, being a muggle just went along with it. And that's fucking enough for me. _I_ made the decision to leave ultimately, don't you forget that," Malfoy sneered throwing his empty cup to the ground and lighting the end of the joint once more.

"You started this whole conversation when you decided to pick a fight with her Drake," Blaise stated simply, "And maybe, just maybe, you should open your eyes to the bigger problems. Like the fact that what you think is petty is actually not at all when you think about her blood status! We're death eaters' sons mate, you need to shape up, or you're just as bad as your father was making you out to be. You can't hate her just because she's a muggle, and I know you wouldn't have fired so quickly at her if she was a witch. She was good looking too, even by your standards she was, and you know it."

Malfoy couldn't come up with anything to say; he knew Blaise was right, times were changing, but he couldn't just disregard years and years of the morals instilled in him since he could walk. Thoughts of growing up in Malfoy Manor, he could punish a house elf before he could walk. _Okay, maybe that's pretty fucking disgusting of a human to have learned at not even 2 years old,_ Malfoy thought to himself. _But it wasn't my fault obviously; my father was and is just a piece of shit, that's just like, facts. Who fucking cares anyway? You obviously do, that's exactly why you left…_

" _You wouldn't have fired so quickly at her if she was a witch." Okay, okay, mayyybe I wouldn't have, but what the fuck ever, she pissed me off by her clumsiness and her cunt attitude so she deserved it. So what if she's got looks, she's still not worthy of me._

"Okay I know my father was a piece of shit, but when he's beating you to a pulp it's not exactly easy to disregard him…" Malfoy said quietly, remembering the problems that seemed to escalate the older he got. The hallways never seemed without a yell or foul mouthed remark. He had to admit, even if he didn't want to give up the wizarding world, he was happy to be out of the pressures of life with Lucius Malfoy.

And it was true; he didn't believe everything his father said. A lot of what he said was pretty fucking ridiculous. He was forever stuck in barbarian times of when Voldemort was in full swing and violence seemed second nature. The prejudice seeped out of his father like a disease, and Draco did what he could to avoid catching it.

"Just look around; I don't see you having a problem with partying and dancing and drinking with any of the muggles here today," Blaise noted, "Give it a chance, eh? They're really not bad at all," For Blaise it had been so easy to disregard any dark arts; his mother forbid anything from their house and she closely watched what his father said to him. His father was a little less crazy than Draco's, but nonetheless was one of the first to return with Lucius when the Dark Lord took power again.

"Okay, so I don't mind them that much anymore, like I can be around them. I don't want them to be eradicated and tortured, like our fathers seem to think should happen, I did get out before I was really turned into an executioner…" Draco tried, speaking softly. "If I at least consider things will you drop this conversation here and now? I'm getting a headache from all this good moral talk," Malfoy tried to make a jab at his friend, but he was hoping it came across as _somewhat_ serious so Blaise would really lay off his back.

"Alright, fine. That settles it for now at least, don't think I won't bring this up again," Blaise looked seriously at his friend as he said the words, making sure he understood.

"Okay, okay. In that case, come on, there's drinks to be had," he gestured for Blaise to drink up. _I don't want to think about all this now, I want to drink and punch something and anyway that fucking bitchy little brunette over there,_ Malfoy thought to himself bringing his attention back to Hermione, _is still pissing me the fuck off._ Despite all the talk of the happenings of the wizarding world and the bigger problems they were going to have to face later, she still wouldn't vacate his mind and he had no clue why.

"That better be a promise. And your stoned arse better catch the fuck up and stop staring or I'd say you're actually into her," Blaise hit Draco's shoulder as he went by. Draco almost considered punching him again, but would have missed anyway as Blaise disappeared down the staircase. Instead, he leaned back down on the railing looking out to the crowd.

 _There's no fucking way I would even like a fucking muggle, for fuck's sake Blaise!_ Draco thought viciously as he watched Blaise stroll off towards the bar. As his eyes wandered the room again, he found his gaze focusing on the brunette. She smiled almost seductively to her friends as a new song came on and Draco couldn't stop staring at the way her skirt was slowly riding up her thigh.

 _No, fuck her. And not in the good way, ugh._

Draco decided he'd had enough wallowing so he made his way to the bar to find Blaise. When he did, Blaise looked annoyed as the bartenders continually avoided him for the many girls that were flocked to his left and right.

"Aye mate, this bar is fucking pathetic," said Blaise, waving a hand in the air some more.

"Why don't you just use magic? It's not like people will notice," Malfoy suggested, picking at his joint which had gone out. He hadn't bothered relighting it.

"I'd rather be as discreet as possible, you do remember were in hiding? So no, I'll wait," Blaise stated firmly. It was important they stay out of detection.

"Anyway," Draco tried to clear his mind. "I think we should really look into finding some decent muggle bastards to keep as friends here so we can at least pass the courses without looking like complete idiot muggles. I do have a reputation to uphold you know," He leaned against the bar, facing Blaise with a look of half boredom half sarcasm smeared across his face.

"You know, you keep running your mouth like that I'm gonna break you a new one," Blaise said, turning to face Draco with two fresh glasses of rum in his hands. He held one out to him, but when Draco grabbed for it, he took it out of his reach. "You only get this if you promise not to insult the next people we talk to, I actually want to get laid tonight, unlike you. Deal?" Blaise tried, holding the glass just out of reach. Draco scoffed and moved to grab the drink, taking a heavy swig.

"I'll be nice if they are…" he glared, and they went out into the house. As they walked around the main floor, they spotted a group of girls standing together skimpily clad and quite tipsy near the bar. Blaise led the way right towards them. As they talked to the girls Draco grew bored fast; there were three of them in the group and not one had anything that great to offer him.

 _See, if all muggle girls are this plain and boring and annoying, I have a reason to hate them, right?_ The first, a short haired blonde, had a great body but her laugh was a grating kind of sound to Draco's ears and she did it far too often for what they were talking about; the second was an Indian girl with a beautiful smile who talked on about playing tennis. He had no idea what that was, sounded like a sport?

Anyway, she was eying Blaise with a look of lust and it was not subtle at all. The third was busy scanning the room like she was in trouble, her hair pulled too tight in her ponytail and Draco was unimpressed and a little creeped out. In that case, he took to leaning against the bar, still sipping his drink and staring at the party goers without really looking.

He didn't even realize he was staring at her again until Blaise coughed to get his attention back. _Shit,_ he thought, _just great, why did it have to be her again?!_ Hermione danced in dizzying circles as Draco drew his gaze away rather slowly."These ladies would like to come back to our place with us, you in?" Blaise asked Draco rather fast, his eyes and empty glass said he was already eager to get the girl to his left home. Draco downed the rest of his glass and nodded, following the group of girls and Blaise down the stairs. As the cool night air hit his face out on the front porch, his mind mixed with rum and her angry voice, and he was bitter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

 *****This chapter has recently been edited due to a discovered glitch in my timeline. Thanks again to my very clever editor for bringing this particular problem to my attention. From here on out, the timeline will work out. The edit is small, but it does have to do with some background story, so it's worth a reread ;)**

On Saturday, Hermione woke with a headache and bile in her stomach, evidence of a blurry night. She groaned at the small crack of light blinding her from the curtains she failed to close properly last night. Rolling over, she shuffled her way to her bathroom, trying to discern how the night finished up in this state. As she splashed the soap off her face, she looked down in the silver bowl to see white foam swirling away down the drain. Her mind felt foggy all of sudden with images of clear liquid shots and blonde hair; it made her want to vomit.

She clutched her stomach and sat by the toilet, head in her hands. _I fucked up, fucked up big time._ Her insides hurt, but nothing came up and she sat there piecing together the night. She remembered going to the second house, well not going, more like marching to her battle with the biggest arse in the world. But wait, she definitely won that, and then they celebrated to his dumbstruck stupid face, and she danced, right? Well, it was all fuzzy after that… except…

"Ugh no!" She bent over the toilet and emptied her stomach in one huge heave. Sitting back, gasping for air to cool the burning in her throat, she recalled what had made her violently throw up so fast. It wasn't just the hangover; she had suddenly remembered an important part of the whole fight she had had with, what was his name? Malloy? She didn't recall but it didn't matter; she had bigger problems on her hands.

The mix of alcohol and anger had released the littlest spark of magic when she had shoved into him and now, with a clear mind, she was paranoid. If he felt it, what had he thought it was? Do you think anyone saw, he seemed too angry to notice, at least I hope… _fuck what if he confronts me, what do I say, how do I even-_

Her inner dialogue was cut off as she proceeded to gag two more times in a row, barely getting in a breath. Her door swung open to Erin draping her arms along the doorway, wearing a baggy t-shirt and no pants.

"Oh shit, we got a puker in here!" she laughed to her friend, her makeup smeared under her eyes. Hermione pulled her face up, her eyes pink with some tears from the strain of vomiting. She glared, holding her middle finger up at her roommate.

"Get the fuck out, I'm fine," Hermione moaned, slumping on the floor in a heap.

"Ew, your head's in the trash can girl," Erin said from the door.

"That's where I belong anyway, so shut it," said Hermione's muffled voice from the floor where Erin couldn't see her. "Just tell me I made a complete fool of myself and I'm never drinking again, ugh, I hate everything."

"Girl, you don't mean that. And you weren't a complete fool, I mean, he certainly liked what you were offering. You were alllll over him, what a slut, I'm so proud!" Erin sang as she danced in a circle.

Horror struck Hermione then; _I- I- THERE'S NO FUCKING WAY. I CAN'T HAVE SLEPT WITH HIM. NO. I CAME HOME ALONE. I CANNOT HAVE BEEN ALL OVER HIM, THAT PRETENTIOUS ARSE!_ Her head shot up too fast and she held her forehead, vomiting again. When she was alright again she glared at Erin, eyes burning, begging for information. She croaked out a "who" and Erin just looked confused.

"Oh ho ho, you don't remember, do you?" She smiled viciously at the thought that she had information Hermione didn't. And then it dawned on her; Hermione definitely thought it was the blonde from earlier, the one she picked a fight with. And as Erin looked back at Hermione's angry face, she confirmed that thought.

"I swear, on your psychotically fueled brain, that I will cut off all your hair if you don't fucking tell me who!" Hermione screeched, fuming now. Erin took a few steps forward, hoping Hermione would let her approach in her sickly state.

"Hermione, please, calm down! I'm kidding, I'm kidding girl!" she consoled crouching down to help her. "It was that guy on the swim team, the captain Michael or whatever so good for you. I mean he's cool and pretty damn hot. Not to mention that ass…" she winked at this, trying to be funny and Hermione smiled but burst into tears in Erin's lap.

"Thank God!" she said as relief washed over her. Knowing it was only Michael she hooked up with instead of the blonde made her feel remarkably better, despite her current state on the bathroom floor.

But at the same time, she was brought right back to panic as she thought of Malfoy and how he probably felt the magic. Yes, her magic had a way of getting away from her, but it was only under a lot of emotional stress; mainly the times had been when people had bullied her as a child, and then very rarely through high school. Only one break up had her at magic's end, and the trickle that sparked that time was in her closed fist, right before it hit her new ex. She had hidden her magic now for so long and she knew she could keep it in. So why did it escape, that tiny bit, right then?

 _It's just my anger, I remember, I was so fucking angry,_ she thought to herself, as Erin held her. _Ugh that blonde, what a prick._ She was still livid at how he had treated her. It was so stupid to act that way these days! You don't want to be caught on the wrong end of a feminist-type, like Hermione was, and he was already starting himself off bad. She told herself she really needed to keep her emotions in check from now on, lest they really blow up on her and she cause some bizarre accident or something. As much as she liked having magic, it sure was a burden when no one else knew about it or could relate.

"Sorry Erin. I- I'm just- I'm a mess really, but we already knew that!" she laughed at herself as she smiled at Erin through watery eyes. As she wiped them, mascara swirled with the salt of her tears on her fingertips.

She remembered the boy Blaise, who had accompanied this foul blonde headed arse and all she could think of was how such a charming person could be friends with such a vile one. When Hermione asked Erin about it, she didn't have an answer either. "Maybe it's a bribe," smiled Erin, helping Hermione to her feet. "I did see him try not to laugh when you were firing insults last night, maybe he's the better catch out of the two!"

"Oh, he is the only catch out of those two!" Hermione said, wiping her face on her sleeve.

"Okay, okay, well why don't you focus your attention on him instead! Now wash your face again and meet me in the kitchen. I'll make us up something to eat." Erin stated, leaving abruptly.

Hermione obliged begrudgingly, but thanked Erin. When she looked in the mirror, she saw the black streaks down her face. With her hair all bushy from sleep and her baggy t-shirt, she looked such a mess. It wasn't Michael's t-shirt, but she almost wished it was; at least then she wouldn't be forced to think about all the rest of the crap that went on last night.

 _That damn bastard! God he was stubborn and rude! I didn't even DO anything, at least I don't remember doing anything… did I? No! He's just an arse and that's all he was doing, picking a fight. Ugh!_ The water splashed once again across her face and she looked in the mirror, _I've got to relax…_

She walked out to the kitchen and sat with her cup of coffee on a stool, lost in thoughts of alcohol and blondes with superiority complexes in a school where hierarchy was already well established. She had never even heard of him before this and it didn't make sense for him to be all full of attitude like that. "It's not like he has any real reason for being such a prat though," Hermione began. Erin looked up from the stove at the sound of her voice.

"I mean, really. The sports teams all have well established reputations, I don't see why he thinks he can compete. Most of the more popular clubs have their own social hierarchies anyway and he doesn't seem like he'd want to work his way up that kind of ladder," It made Hermione's stomach turn; she hated attitude like that, and entitlement. Everyone had both good and bad in them, in Hermione's opinion, and riding out that bad side never got you far in the long run. "You know, I've never seen him until now, like in any of my years here I feel like I'd remember that hair or that attitude, and this school isn't that big," Hermione said, wondering again about his past and hating herself for it.

"Well then Hermione, maybe the best solution would be for you to help him out a bit, find a nice place for that huge ego of his," Erin giggled from her own joke. It was too early for Hermione to catch Erin's sexual innuendo and she looked confused. "Oh come on, you know that fox has to be hiding something rather large to be able to walk around like he owns everyone and everything in sight!"

"Piss off Erin! I've had enough from you about his looks!" Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "For a girl who dates so many beautiful girls you sure haven't shut up about how attractive the brat is," Hermione said. "Not that _I_ think he's attractive. I have already made it clear that his complete lack of a functioning brain makes him despicable. He's completely insane, inane, and an imbecile and I will not bother with him anymore."

"Don't forget, opposites attract Hermione. You might find out he's actually quite your type if you guys exchanged real dialogue instead of insults. For someone who does a lot of reading, you sure are judging a book by its cover!" Erin said. "You never know…"

"Well lucky for me Erin I didn't just look at the cover, I read the author's note and you know what? It said you and him were both full of shit." Promptly she got up and cleared her dishes. She didn't want to listen to Erin try to persuade her about this guy anymore. Besides, if she was going to attempt to keep her emotions and magic in check then she needed to forget him.

As she was leaving the kitchen she was almost to her room before Erin spoke up again. "You better watch it though Hermione. You keep finding ways to bring him up in conversation and I can tell your mind is still reeling with him. One day down the road on a real drunk night you'll wake up next to him and be speechless for once!"

Hermione stopped at her doorway and glared at Erin, who only shrugged in return and continued to clean the dishes. Hermione's annoyance didn't leave her as she closed her door. She threw on some jeans and a t-shirt and got her bag ready. After a quick brush of her hair to make it look like she at least was somewhat put together, she was out the door. She signed up for a freshman mentoring program because it fulfilled an outreach requirement she had for graduate school and there was an information meeting that afternoon. The warm air felt good on her muddled mind and soon enough she approached the correct room on campus just in time for the speaker, who was organizing notes on the podium. As the room quieted down for the meeting, so did Hermione's mind and she was happy for the easy distraction.

…

Sunlight streamed through Draco's front window spilling over his emerald bedspread that loosely draped his still sleeping body. He was on his stomach, one leg completely exposed, hanging half off the bed. His hair fell haphazardly on his forehead and he snored slightly. The door slammed open suddenly and he groaned in disbelief at who would dare disturb his sleep, although he already knew who it was.

"Get the fuck out Blaise," came his muffled voice from under a pillow. He hated when he forgot to close his blinds at night and he hated even more when he forgot to lock his door because that meant Blaise could wake him up whenever he felt like it. He had been making it a point to do so all summer.

"Mate, it is two in the afternoon. You need to get the hell up already," Blaise stated strutting into the room and pulling the blinds open even further, yanking the sheets off his friend.

Draco cringed at the cold air coming in and peaked out at Blaise with slitted eyes from under his pillow. "Oh don't look at me like that you lazy piece of shit get up, we have to go meet Theo at his new portkey location. Let's just hope he actually makes it this time…" Blaise said, and he left Draco to get up in peace.

 _Ugh what a piece of shit he is. Why must he insist on coming in here and ruining a perfectly good sleep? It's not like he went to bed early; HE didn't listen to his friend bang some screechy mudblood through the walls last night. Ugh, fucking muggles._ Draco had hated when Blaise had a girl and he didn't and since he made it clear he wasn't about to go after any muggles he was bound to spend every night alone here.

Blaise, on the other hand, had no problem doing so and did, last night with the only good looking girl from the group he chose to talk to. Draco would have none of it and went to bed as soon as they got home, leaving all three muggles with Blaise. It wasn't until an hour later, when Draco woke up to summon some water to ease his dry mouth that he heard them. Sure Draco had slept with a few moaners, but they didn't moan quite as weird as that girl did last night for Blaise. _Were all muggle girls like that? Ew. What the hell did he do to her anyway? Not enough probably._

Draco chuckled at his own joke about Blaise's inadequacies and got up to take a shower. He stood in the hot steam, letting the warmth ease away the headache pounding in his brain. _Man, I drank way too much_ , he thought, leaning his forehead against the wall. _Fuck, why though? What even happened last night?_

He racked his brain for any recollection of the events of last night, but all that was coming to mind was watching Blaise and some girl talk and her friends trying to get Draco's attention. _Yeah, disgusting. I wouldn't have gone near those girls even if they were witches._

As he turned off the shower, he slipped getting out. Catching himself on the wall, he was reminded why he had drank so much. _Fucking bitchy muggle, Merlin how could I forget?!_ His anger fumed up again at the thought of her and her backlash. As he walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, all he could feel was his hot temper, like he never left the steam of the shower.

He threw around some clothes with more aggression than needed until he found clean ones and got dressed. _No one really stood up to me that way, well_ _except for Potter…_ He was reminded of his fights through his Hogwarts years with the scarred boy who lived, but he didn't feel the same bitter resent. Now that he thought about Harry's actual situation, Draco did feel a little bit sorry for his enemy schoolmate; _I mean, fuck, I wouldn't want to face Lord Voldemort for breakfast at my fucking house let alone when he's angry._ He would never admit he would give the kid some credit, even if it made him feel like a coward and brought bile to his lips.

He met Blaise in the hall in a matter of minutes and grabbed an apple from the kitchen before they left. They headed for an empty field about three blocks from their townhouse. Their house was definitely too large for just two people, and even adding Theo to the mix, it was far more like a rich business man's office than student housing. _I guess that's the point though, we are in hiding…_

The muggle girl was still on his mind as they waited in the field; she was slightly haughty and just as quick witted as himself. It was scary. _Had I even scared her at all?_ "Something's wrong with me," he stated suddenly, and Blaise began to laugh.

"Well, if you'd like to know, I'll get out the list," he said between chuckles.

"Come off it, I mean it. Do you remember that annoying muggle brat from last night?" Draco questioned, hoping Blaise had a better memory than him and could clarify. "Did she seem at all intimidated by me? The amount of rum and weed I must have had after that is muddling my brain as to the details of our unnecessary encounter with her."

"Are you kidding me mate? I wanted to personally thank her for shutting your stubborn mouth up for once! I've never seen a girl do it!" praised Blaise.  
"Yeah, yeah very funny. I cannot believe her nerve, what a complete bitch, she really thinks she's something, oh, she's glad I didn't have my wand," Draco sneered, clenching a fist as if he were crushing her in hand.  
"And you wonder why I took it from you when we left the house last night, despite the fact I know you can do quite a bit wandless," sighed Blaise. "You keep that up and I'm going to start taking your wand more often."

Draco sneered in response and Blaise continued. "And come on for the last time, she was not that bad and you deserved it! You were such a prick! Like honestly, I don't know where that came from, I know you stopped being THAT pushy and arrogant way back at school after like fourth year, when you found out it didn't actually work to get you real friends. So lighten up, this may not be the ideal location you want to be in, but we have to lay low. Just relax, mate, and lay off the muggles."

"Are you just saying that so when you fuck her later, I won't make fun of you? Because I still will no matter what, it would be disrespectful to you if I didn't uphold such high standard of friendship you know," Draco was trying to get a rise out of Blaise, whether he was just bored or he really couldn't stop thinking about what this girl's problem was, he didn't know.

"Hilarious, but so what if I was to sleep with her? I bet she's a great shag, and seeing the jealousy smeared across your face the next day would be worth it," Blaise countered, and Draco could do nothing to retort; he was having a hard time not thinking about her body moving to the music from last night and he had to shake his head of the vile thoughts. _Ugh how long has it actually been since I've fucked someone?_

"Fuck off. I told you already I wouldn't go near her, let alone be jealous of you with her," Draco managed, but Blaise knew he was going to rant on in his typical fashion to prove himself. "Plus, I changed my ways when pretention didn't work on witches and wizards. Muggles on the other hand are probably easy to manipulate…" They were still arguing when they heard a familiar pop and Theo tumbled into view, a broken pocket watch hanging from his long fingers.

Theo was supposed to arrive last night, however ill placed events with his brother and father had made sneaking out quite difficult despite extensive planning. A very small and faint patronus had appeared in the kitchen window. Upon letting the squirrel-looking animal in, it spoke in Theo's voice, heavy with annoyance that his arrival would be delayed.

"And you really have got to stop using that word mate! Seriously! You're using it wrong anyway, if she's not a witch, she's just a muggle," Blaise's voice was stern in the empty field and he was looking at Draco with disapproval.

"What, 'mudblood?' Oh come on, I use it to be endearing really! I don't really mean it, like only kind of, it's second nature by now anyway and her blood's probably just as dirty! What?" Draco shrugged looking apologetic. Blaise has narrowed his eyes to slits upon Draco's further insults. "At least I didn't hook up with one, that's just wrong! You take the cake on _that one,_ " Draco retorted, grinning at Theo as he greeted them.

"Nice to see you guys haven't changed too much," Theo chuckled, extending his hand to each in turn. He was a lean, dark haired boy and it appeared he hadn't been taking the best care of himself as of late. His tall figure was slightly bent forward and there was stubble peppering his small chin. He had a knapsack casually hanging on his back that looked too small for his height. It had been three months of summer since they'd last seen him, and his face looked worn, like he'd seen a lot of things he hadn't wanted to see.

"Really! Stop saying that word, I'll tell your mum, she'll have your neck! I swear it. And so what if I did hook up with Jess? I fucking fucked her too and I bet you heard her screams through the walls last night, it was that great!" Blaise said with an air of victory. "Things have changed mate, you need to get with the program. Hey Theo," he said then, turning. "It's been a while."

"-Ey it has been awhile, hasn't it? All of summer actually, if I'm not mistaken," he said, looking at his friends.  
"We aren't finished here Blaise, just so you know," Draco said, and he turned to Theo. "How's it going Theo? Was it really that hard to get away for you, took you long enough," Draco knew Theo would supply them with more information than they'd had in a while; he was eager to hear what had developed since they left and if, by some miracle, his family had stayed out of trouble.

"Yeah, actually it was really hard to get away. My dad is such a bastard really. Wait until I tell you some of the shit they tried to get me to do…" Theo began, but he didn't say much just yet. They needed to wait until they were back in the safety of their own house before they could really talk. They had specifically put up wards to protect their safety in the house and it was best to keep anything about magic, wizards, and wars out of the public's ears. They walked out of the field finding the road again and headed back.

…

"Well, I started off the summer trying to find out what I should do, you know. I mean, you saw how our parents were getting after that attack on Hogwarts, half went straight back and half were all uneasy and stuff. Some of them couldn't handle this, him coming back I mean. A lot of our families had fixed things from the past; they were starting to be forgiven even, for some of their mistakes in the first war." Theo looked around at his friends, who nodded in agreement. They had gathered in the kitchen when they'd reached their townhouse. Theo and Blaise were seated around the kitchen table. Draco was perched up on the countertop by the sink.

Draco knew Theo meant some of the other Slytherin parents. His father, and Blaise's and Theo's too, had all had to repent the error of their ways back at the end of the first war to stay out of Azkaban, but that didn't mean they weren't still all in conspiracy ever since. They were desperate to hold on to some semblance of the way it had been, even if that meant displaying arrogance like it was diamonds to brag about, walking all over people and corrupting their way through political standings. Draco was taught that that was what made other people jealous of their family, and that he had every right to do what he please because he was better, superior, _pureblood._

Draco ignored the memories; he wanted to stop thinking about the bad parts of his past. Despite their most recent argument back in the field, Draco had promised Blaise on multiple occasions to attempt to be civil in their new living situation. If he was going to follow through with his promise to do that and attempt to be a better person, those thoughts needed to end. But he wasn't sure how easily they would...

He thought about their other friends from school; had their mothers or fathers put them away in hiding too? He didn't really know, he had left so fast and everything… Draco didn't want to admit to himself that Voldemort might be growing powerful again because that meant some bad things. He knew his father's wrath was terrible, which was nothing compared to the Dark Lord's; so what would happen?

"Well what happened to all the rest? You know, the other students, with Hogwarts attacked we were all evacuated but after that? Hogwarts is obviously not open, hasn't been for like what, four years now?" Draco asked, curious.

Blaise spoke up, "Some went to Bueaxbattons and other schools farther away. Most people waited a year to see if Hogwarts would reopen, but nothing came of it. Durmstrang was only an option for the Slytherins because of Karkaroff obviously. The rest went into hiding like us. A lot of the muggleborns are at muggle universities, at least that's what my mum said before we left. Parents believe it's probably the safest place to hide," he stated, a look of distress crossed his brow.

Four years prior, during the summer before 6th year, things had started to change. The boys' families were much more involved in politics than before; one of their fathers' 'friends' was going to run for Minister of Magic. Draco wasn't stupid and knew it was just the death eater group trying to get Voldemort more power, and Lucius and Blaise's father and the rest would be his in.

That's when Draco and Blaise had started attending a few of the meetings. Draco's father had said it was so he could get acquainted with the right kind of people, that they would soon be finding a lot more responsibility on their hands if elections and other plans panned out. Obviously that was a lie; Lucius's ulterior motive shone through his teeth as he threatened Draco whenever he was noncompliant. He was happy to go to Hogwarts that September, if it only meant time away from a shitty, stressful home life.

By Christmas break, Draco had come home to half the manor turned office. His mother was nowhere in sight and he was thrust full force into a lot of off the books kind of work for his father, who charmingly continued threats as he encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps. Draco found he held a lot of power because of his father, but it wasn't welcome. On New Year's Eve, Lucius came to Draco practically beaming; Draco was to take the Dark Mark. Lucius wouldn't stop smiling, Draco just looked vicious. Somewhere in the house late that evening after, he could just hear his mother. She was crying.

By April, Draco was a shadow of his former self; he kept to himself or the few Slytherins that were involved the same way he was. When he had found out plans for an attack, he was anything but willing. He might have been raised as a pretty shitty person, but things were looking bleak. He hated Harry and Dumbledore, but he didn't want them dead. When he refused to help, Lucius had used the Cruciatus as well as his own fist to get the message home. He had been the last person to look upon his former headmaster as Snape cast the killing curse; he saw the man fall out of an almost swollen shut eye.

Draco shivered, his eyes hard. He tried to focus on Theo instead, who was now talking. "And so you know, after You-Know-Who attacked Hogwarts, he went silent for a while. Everyone assumed he was hunting for Harry. He and Weasley and a band of those Gryffindors ran off, escaped right under a bunch of death eaters. He wasn't happy about that," Theo explained, growing nervous.

"Shit yeah, I remember that. Those death eaters were gone from the manor once summer hit, that's for sure," Draco recalled. "I got promoted though, wasn't that nice of my dad?" the sarcasm sounded vile wrapped around his words. The past few years Draco, Blaise, and Theo had spent life in hell at the manor, doing bidding for their fathers or other death eaters. Draco's pessimism and sarcasm had woven into his personality in some desperate way to ignore how wrong everything was around him.

"God, our parents are fucked up. Why they ever thought following an immortal lunatic was a good idea is beyond me," Blaise stated abruptly.

"I know! I didn't think they'd be so quick to be back in on this whole mess, seeing as how the first time things obviously didn't go well for em," Theo went on, "but my dad shot right back into his ranks too, same with both yours, talking about him like they were old pub buds. It was disgusting," he recalled, but he changed the subject. "Anyway, I found out after you guys left that when You-Know-Who was away, our dads had a secret project. And they've been working hard on it." He looked at each of the boys seriously. "He wants to reopen Hogwarts."

Skepticism hung in the air at his words. Draco gaped and Blaise looked as if someone had slapped him. "I know. The only reason I was told is because they want to change a lot of the rules and regulations, and with you guys gone I was lucky enough to get Head Boy status," Theo stated, as if the title disgusted him. "I don't even want to know the punishments I would have been allowed to give out."

"Merlin knows my dad was probably jerking it with joy the minute he heard the news, a school devoted to dark arts? How grand," said Draco shuttering. It was a disturbingly accurate mental image for them all. "What are they going to do, turn it into a death eater training camp? Gives a whole new meaning to 'educational reform'."

"Most likely yes," Theo looked glum. "They're in early stages, but my mum didn't want me involved. She tried hard to help me avoid meetings and such, but there was only so much travel I could do, only so much pretending until my dad realized. I was just so mad at him all the time. We got into so many fights," he looked away and rubbed his fist with his free hand, remembering the punches thrown and the names that came along with them. "It wasn't until two weeks ago that he really went off. That's when, when he called me… a blood traitor for the first time and well…" Theo mumbled. "I lost it. I told my mum I had to leave. I'd find you guys if I could."

"Fuck," Blaise said, looking up. He had been staring at a spot on the floor his features hard. "I'm sorry about your dad Theo. He wasn't exactly the nicest man ever, but he was your dad."

"My father would have had my ballsack around his neck if I would have lashed out like that," Draco chimed in trying to sound sympathetic, but it came out as a lame attempt and Blaise glared over to him.

"Really Draco? You think this is a good time for jokes? We are talking about our lives, our families, our classmates' lives! Act intelligent for once and show us you care," Blaise offered, his voice unsteady at his friend's disregard for Theo's broken family and the dark plans that were certainly brewing. He got up, throwing his chair aside with more force than necessary.

"Well sorry but in case you failed to notice, our families are just as fucked up! So bravo, Theo, really, congratulations for actually having the balls to stand up to your old man. Not all of us are so lucky…" he said with anger coming to the surface. He looked away at this last statement, remembering again the black and purple and blue splotches of bruises he used to get from Lucius that he had tried to hide from his mom, his friends.

He was reminded again of all the vile things he had been forced to do. It hadn't been like he hadn't wanted to fight back; he just found it terribly difficult to fight family. _How do you fight back against the bonds of tradition, against love, against bloodlines? Fucking bloodlines…_ He put his head on his knee, a bruise currently on his ankle. _Stupid muggle girl,_ he remembered angrily, continuing to glare out the window as Blaise and Theo talked.

"What is his problem?" Theo asked Blaise quietly, pointing to their brooding friend.

"Nothing, just a shitty night for Mr. Everything-should-go-my-way. A muggle girl accidently spilled a drink on him last night when we were out. And then she fell on him. Twice. I think it's a little too soon for that much muggle contact," Blaise said, trying to lighten up the gloom that hung in the room. "And now he's just bitter because she actually stood up for herself and called him out for being the douchebag he was. He's been getting his fair share of rude awakenings with all these muggles around, and it's only been the first weekend. Just ignore him, I'm sure the snake will have to lighten up eventually."

"Ha well that is fucking hilarious, I wish I had gotten here sooner. I would pay money to see that," Theo chuckled, "It must have been great!" He looked over at Malfoy sulking on the counter, staring out the window like he would hex the bushes to nothing. The boys welcomed the change of subject.

"Fucking cunt," Draco said under his breath, but they could still hear him clearly enough.

"Oh believe me, he's still all aggressive and defensive about it, that's what we were talking about when you got here. Really, I think he's just so sexually frustrated that he was trying not to fuck her in front of everyone," Blaise joked rather quietly to Theo, but Draco looked over with narrowed eyes.

"I can still hear you, you flaming arsehole," he drawled getting up, glaring at Blaise in return. He began pacing, twirling his wand in intricate circles like he was remembering some spell. "I'll hex your balls off before I fuck her, now continue the damn story Theo, before I fall asleep."

"You're such a piece of shit Drake, you really are. But I wouldn't really have ya any other way. Good to see you guys, really. I've missed this," Theo smiled but the conversation had to go back to darker matters. Theo had more information for them and he cleared his throat, his smile quick to disappear.

"Anyway, so before I up and left, I was fighting with my dad. He kept telling me he needed me to be around more and stop shoving off duties. When I had refused hundreds of times he finally mentions they were talking about giving me the mark..." He eyed Draco, whose head shot up upon hearing this. They all knew that Draco had already gone through that hell and back.

Draco shrugged it off quite quickly, keeping up his bravado however. "Oh, you didn't want the _honor_ of a permanent connection with every single, grand psycho death eater including the grand Dark Lord Psycho himself? Hard to believe anyone would pass _that_ up," he said, his words dripping with sarcastic anger; they were well aware how much Draco resented the tattoo still on his left forearm. _Yeah, some great fucking honor…_

The boys sat not talking for a few minutes, a thick silence hanging in the air. Blaise broke it with a much quieter voice, hoping Draco would calm down. "You know Draco, we can see right through you. I've seen you stand up to your father even if it meant blood was drawn. Just agreeing to come here means _something_."

"Maybe it does Blaise," Draco cut in, thinking again about his own situation with the death eaters. "But that doesn't mean I haven't done some pretty shitty stuff because of them. It doesn't mean I'm any different if I still got this, this _thing_ that proves my allegiance," he said, yanking his sleeve down as the mark on his forearm begin to itch.

It had never hurt until he had been snuck away by his mother this summer here with Blaise. They now knew why their mothers had been so insistent to get them to leave; they didn't want them back at a death eater controlled Hogwarts with tattoos to match.

He scratched at his arm again, knowing he could never remove the mark completely, he'd have it for life. The best he could do then was magic, placed on it to break its connection with the others' marks. It had taken months of hard work and research to learn the enchantment needed and it was by far the trickiest spell he knew of. _But what if they tried to reconnect it?_ He didn't want to think about it and made a mental note to redo the spells tonight. He feared that's why it had started to itch or burn without warning every so often and he couldn't risk that. He couldn't risk Blaise's and Theo's lives either.

"It also doesn't mean I have to go shagging every goddamn muggle that talks to me just to prove I don't stand for exactly what our parents do," he said after taking a joint from his pocket and lighting it with a wave of his hand. He let the smoke slowly seep out of his lips, the smell of marijuana was lost into the room. "Just because I found the audacity to leave doesn't mean I'm the poster child for this fucking war…"

The room was quiet for some time after this statement. Blaise hadn't realized just what it meant for Draco to leave; his friends were praising him for leaving, like it made him some kind of rebel. But if he actually fought back, who knows what the Dark Lord would do to his family; they were still on the Dark Lord's side. And he was blacklisted by them. It was scary but it made sense why Draco continued to uphold such a superiority complex. Maybe he was being truthful when he said he wasn't as prejudiced as his family taught him to be he just was too scared to show it.

"That's what it's coming down to, isn't it… war?" Blaise said quietly, angry at the words as they left his lips.

"It sure seems like it," Theo said heavily after some time. "They said they were gonna offer the mark to others too. Isn't that something? Pretty terrible if you ask me; getting us kids involved, trying to make it seem like, like glory. And you know some will see it that way, more than willing, our friends. It's sad. They don't see the shitty side of it, the side we know. And you, Draco, you didn't even get a choice..."

"Yeah well…" was all Draco could say. His head was swimming with thoughts on war and his family's safety. It sucked he could do nothing for them now that he was here. It had always been difficult for him growing up in a home where he knew only what the dark arts could do for him. He loved his family, but it was becoming more difficult to separate them from the horrible shit going on around them.

When he had gone to Hogwarts it became clear just how different his home life was from the real world. He became keener on just how far this so called popularity their families had went. He wasn't immune to the things he caught people saying about his and other Slytherin families alike. The halls were teeming with gossip when the Daily Prophet was delivered, always bringing some news of the mudslinging going on in the ministry caused by old supporters and non-supporters butting heads.

Draco tried to ignore the harshness, but their family's wealth and status only went so far until the corruption showed. He kept his attitude about him, they could all go fuck off for all he cared; he would drop the word "mudblood" and go off about blood status like he was taught, just to get a rise out of people and to seek some attention.

Some people listened, some people got tired of listening. Eventually it made Draco less outwardly pretentious, at least to his closest friends, but it was easy to still use bad words and shame other people with Voldemort gone for good. He didn't hate muggles, but he didn't like them either. He tolerated them. It wasn't until the summer after 4th year, when Voldemort was officially resurrected that things started to really change for him. And now, years later, in hiding because of the realization of what Voldemort's return really would bring, he might have to really start reconsidering just what it meant to be of magical blood, to be a wizard. He shuddered at the thought.

"This is much more serious than we thought," Blaise's eyebrows were knitted together in concern. He was thinking hard on Theo's words, and he didn't like the sound of what he was hearing.

"Like, but does he realize half of us don't even try at Hogwarts that much?" Draco stated, as he twirled his wand in his fingers again. "I mean, we," he pointed to himself and the two sitting before him, "Have a lot of good fighting power under our belts because our parents encouraged it. I was in training by the time I could walk, but I doubt Pansy or Crabbe will have much to go off besides some stupefies and jinxes. In Crabbe's case, that might be hoping too much actually."

"And are you forgetting what they did to fix that problem back during the first war? Your own dad plead the Imperius to get out of Azkaban, I'm sure they won't hesitate to use it again for the supporters who aren't as skilled or willing," Blaise looked over at Draco, whose wand immediately fell to the floor. He got angry that his friends saw him falter, but even more because he had forgotten the use of the Imperius Curse in the first war. So many people that weren't up to par were forced under it solely to have more ranks on their side.

"But you're right Draco, with the D.A. still going strong, the Slytherin kids he'd recruit really are the runt of the litter," Theo said. "Even if they get Hogwarts up and running, I don't think it would be the same. It would be to train kids really."

"Yeah but putting Potter's trainees up against some of the strongest imperiuses and we are in for quite a treat," Draco mentioned, reminding them all too well of the problems that would arise if it really came down to another battle. "We have no idea how this is going to pan out, especially now that we are out of the loop completely. We're all blacklisted remember," Draco said then, knowing they wouldn't be able to get much information besides what Theo had.

Draco recalled the D.A.; a lot of the other students now had a much better arsenal than Draco gave them credit for because of Dumbledore's Army, but they had also never been on a battlefield with scummy death eaters before. People like Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and the like were definitely on the short end of the stick, and they were probably some of the first kids he'd mark. He'd give them special privilege at his newly changed school.

And like Theo said, many would take the mark willingly, happily even. It was only a matter a time before there was a hefty following of young death eaters with marks to match. It made his anger boil to know he'd look just like them, that they'd _want_ to be branded. Blaise's words came back to him again, " _it meant something for you to come here Draco." Fuck… I hate Blaise and his stupid good morals._

"Well, basically they have only just started talking about this," continued Theo. "They're completely mental though," He shuddered. "It seems like a test run to me." Draco looked up suddenly.

"What do you mean, a test run?" he asked, a little bit of nervousness in his voice.

"A test run for some kind of more permanent training regimen. Think about it," Theo went on. "What better way to encourage separation of magic from muggles than train future death eaters from when they're young? They can go to a school where they can be taught by the best of the best that torture and the unforgiveables are just a fun time," Theo went on, his voice growing hard.

Draco sat quietly. He wasn't sure what to think for himself. _Was it really getting that bad?_ He knew quite well what it meant to get involved with the death eaters and he had the tattoo on his arm to prove it. His father had threatened him with the imperius curse if he didn't do it. He knew what it meant to grow up with that exact mindset, thinking it was perfectly normal to abuse, manipulate, and be powerful.

But that was just it; he was forced. To take the mark and to go through all that growing up. What would happen when kids started taking the mark and the lifestyle willingly, when friends of his became death eaters? He knew the mess he had become after being dragged through this life, and the pieces wouldn't be easy to put back together. Would others crumble too? The idea of violence and brokenness seemed unending.

He remembered how he felt that night after the mark had been branded on his skin; he felt like he had signed his life to them without even touching the pen. He was forced to do a lot of things because of it, things he was far from proud of now. Draco didn't know why, but having the mark made things so much worse. He hated it. And then to be herded into training and manipulating kids to torture and kill? That was taking things to a new level, a scary one at that. And it made Draco feel all wrong.

Whether it was because somewhere deep inside him he knew it was wrong or because he was scared of the consequences, he would have to face the fact that he would have that tattoo forever, and it would soon be a symbol of something much bigger than himself. It was a permanent reminder also that, at one point in his life, he had actually believed his father.

"This is… this is surreal," Blaise said slowly, taking time to digest the information Theo had given them. Draco looked like a statue when he looked over to him. "I mean, I knew it would escalate, but this is brutal. To turn people into killing torturers and saying it's okay, that this prejudice is moral and right?! That's fucked up."

"Hey, we don't all turn out bad, eh? I grew up with the worst of the worst and I turned out phenomenal," Draco's statement oozed with sarcasm once again, but it didn't fully diffuse the tension. He looked away out the window, staring at the swirling clouds above.

"Yeah, sure you're perfectly fine, charming even. But mentally we won't talk about how fucked up you really are because of it, you're too stubborn to admit it anyway. We all were screwed over to an extent, so what does that mean for everyone else? But I'll say it again, it's good you're here Draco. Do you see why this is turning into such a big deal? Why I continuously hound you?" Blaise looked at Draco seriously as he talked.

"Shut it Blaise, I've had enough of your good slander on my reputation today thank you," Draco spat, but he did know what Blaise meant and it was good to hear him say that after all the anger he had given him today. He knew that deep down, he was beyond glad he had a friend like Blaise. "And yes, okay I get it. No one wants our friends made into killers and torturers, including myself. I'm probably part of the reason they need to recruit more people to do their bidding. It would take six of the other kids our age to match my skill set." Blaise snickered.

"It's still pretty bad though mate, it's really not funny. Things are only going to get worse," Theo stated solemnly, and the room grew quiet for some time. The intensity of the statement reverberated against the walls, pushing in on them like a suffocating gas. This was only the beginning of what was sure to turn into some pretty scary events.

"Sorry…" Draco whispered, but his reply felt loud in the empty room. Blaise got up and started to pace. He looked like he wanted to punch a wall. As the reality sunk in deeper, the need to distract themselves came up quickly. They moved to the couch and played chess for a while, but it only worked for so long. They all needed some space.

They showed Theo his new room and left him to unpack peacefully; Blaise and Draco retired to their own rooms respectfully. It was a restless night for all three of the boys. Thoughts of crazy childhoods and deranged plans for war wouldn't leave Draco's mind and he was starting to wonder if he'd ever be able to have some peace in this Azkaban-like world. As his eyes finally gave up a fighting battle to stay awake, he knew deep down that things were changing. And he was scared.

…

An alarm went off with an annoying ring throughout his large bedroom. On the huge wooden frame, Draco rolled over as the sound penetrated his ears through the covers. He dreaded that stupid muggle contraption that Blaise had insisted he get used to using this year; it was one of the only things besides breakfast or sex that got him out of bed on time, and for obvious reasons, Blaise wasn't about to submit to either of those things. So the alarm clock, which had a secret anti-breakage charm on it, was set dangerously close to the window on Draco's bedside and rang insistently.

He waved a lazy hand to turn it off and groaned as he rolled over. It was the first day of muggle schooling and he was not looking forward to it at all. After all their talk last night of war and preparations, schoolwork was the last thing any of them wanted to do. Hogwarts had been different, he rather enjoyed learning a lot of the things the magic world had to offer. As he showered and searched his wardrobe for the least ugly sweatshirt Blaise had gotten for him at the bookstore he thought about the wizarding school they'd left behind.

Charms had always been his favorite, he was good at it because he was creative and clever. Alchemy was in demand his last year there, so he took it because he had room in his schedule. He had been surprised to like it as much as he had, he thought, as he pulled the gray and maroon sweatshirt over his head letting his blonde hair fall in his eyes. He frowned as he looked at himself in the mirror, hating how he looked in his rival's color. _Stupid Gryffindor…_ he thought as he left his room.

Alchemy had actually come naturally to him, manipulating the elements was an interesting subject. He was quite sad he wouldn't get to take it for a second term. He was pretty sure he'd never have another term at any wizarding school again for that matter, and that was actually sort of sad. It felt far less than four years since they'd set foot inside a Hogwarts classroom. He looked once more in the mirror before sauntering down the staircase in agitation at the start of his first muggle day. With a loud sigh he stepped out into the sunlight on their front steps.

"You're not even going to bring a school bag? It's the first day," Blaise pointed out loudly from the sidewalk, adjusting the cuff of his blazer. But Draco just walked down the steps not paying attention to Blaise chastising him.

"You're as charming as ever Blaise, really. Now why do you care so much? You know I'm not going to take notes anyway, I'm just going to cheat on the exams with magic," he stated simply. With that he put his hands in his pockets and strode off ahead. Blaise just shook his head and jogged to catch up.

"We've got a full day ahead of us in case you didn't look at your schedule yet, which, I know you didn't so," breathed Blaise once he caught up to his friend, who had stopped at the end of the road for the bus stop.

"Ah, you know me well," said Draco before Blaise could continue. He offered a smile and changed the subject. "So where's Theo? He doesn't have to be rudely awakened at this disturbing hour, how did he get so lucky?"

"He's been on campus for an hour already mate, he had to go fill out a bunch of paperwork for the administration. I don't know, but he'll be with us in economics later. We've got lit first, then econ, and then you and Theo can go find something constructive to do because I got calculus until 4," as Blaise talked Draco tuned him out, making a note to find something 'constructive' to do with Theo.

 _We could probably practice some quidditch in that old field…_ If that didn't work or Theo had work to do, he could run off to the library at some point then and get a book to pass the time. _Except,_ he thought suddenly, _they'll be muggle books…_

"You know," Draco cut off Blaise mid explanation of what calculus even was, "don't expect me to get up this early every day, it's quite miserable and I'm not about these early mornings, I have better things to do."

"I won't allow you not to get up this early, we have 9ams every day," Blaise rolled his eyes at Draco, who had approached the curb right where the bus was about to stop. "You can't escape everything just by ignoring it Draco, you really can't."

Draco abruptly stopped climbing the stairs of the bus and turned to place his face right in front of Blaise's. "Your nagging is really starting to be a fucking drag, I know what you actually mean by that statement and I agreed to fucking get used to the muggles and try to lighten up a bit so I suggest you desist or I'll hex you so hard you'll wake up with a muggle chewing on your cock, and not in a good way, and then you'll really have something to run your mouth about," And with that, he got on, leaving Blaise in a disgruntled air of annoyance and confusion as to why he ever befriended this git in the first place. Draco had enough on his mind without Blaise's constant nagging; his head was still reeling with the thoughts of last night's conversation.

When Blaise boarded, he found Draco in the back standing, a sneer of distaste smeared across his mouth. Draco watched as Blaise approached him and stood beside him in an empty area, the bus being heavily crowded from the previous stops ahead of theirs. This was the public bus, not the university-run one, and Draco's insides began to twitch as he surveyed the people aboard. There was plenty of students, but there were also some rather interesting looking muggles, a few of which seemed to come from the furthest reaches of human grotesqueness.

Blaise flinched beside him because of a sudden outcry of a particularly creepy looking muggle who appeared to be talking to himself and had just lost his own argument. Draco leaned in to Blaise, looking even more annoyed as he stated, "On second thought, keep nagging, I'd rather listen to that any day than these fucking creeps."

...

Hermione was smiling as she made breakfast for Erin, who often overslept and ended up skipping the meal completely in a rush to get to class on time. But, it being the first day, Hermione had gotten up early in order to get all her things ready and decided to help her friend out. She was almost too excited for the first day. Despite her dislike of most of society for never feeling like she belonged, in the classroom she could at least excel and that made her feel quite good about herself.

Her classes were mostly upper level English classes, which meant loads of time sitting in the library reading novels and furiously taking notes; her favorite pass time. Plus, this year she was a teacher's assistant to two of her professors; one, Professor Silvanna, was the nicest woman and made it easy to pass if you put in the work. However the second, Professor Sterns, was completely different. Hermione had taken "Classical Poetry" with him, and he sure made her go above and beyond in any writing analysis she had done. He led his class lectures unconventionally and most times you left the class with more questions than answers.

His TA position, he only offered one, was one of the most competitive and coveted spots at the University. After turning in her final paper last semester he had told her hoped to see her application in the pile, and she figured why the hell not. It was another thing to immerse herself in, prove her worth and she was the obvious choice. She thrived on the chaotic discussions and was excited to make her students fear her in the same way he did this year.

"Hey! Have you seen my sneakers?" A voice made its way to Hermione's ears and she was brought back to the present. Her black haired roommate had scurried into the kitchen in her robe over a pair of jeans. She snagged a pancake off the stack on the counter before Hermione scooped another out of the pan.

"Under the coffee table by the couch, good morning to you too!" She said as the girl passed her, got the shoes, and smiled.

"You know you really are a lifesaver, I don't know what I'd do without you, I want to fuck these pancakes," Erin called, swooping back into her room. _What a girl_ , Hermione thought. _I haven_ _'t met anyone like that in a while…_ And with that, Hermione remembered she had to meet her freshman mentee later that day for coffee. She had almost forgot, and would have felt bad blowing the girl off, she didn't need that on the first day.

As Hermione finished up breakfast, she thought on and on about classes and meetings and homework, the start of school. As she put away ingredients a residue of white flour lay across the counter. As she wiped it into the sink, the white flour swirled and she was instantly reminded of snow white blonde hair.

 _That fuckboy from the party_. She thought instantly; his haughty attitude and sharp lines flashed through her mind and she was instantly angry. _Ugh no, no more_! she thought to herself as she turned the stove off and threw the bowl into the sink with much more force than needed.

She had spent her restlessness last night thinking about his stupid smug face and she would not permit it to ruin her amazing first day. She had better things going for her and she knew it. She began packing her bag up for the day, determined to forget him once and for all.

When she got to campus she stopped for coffee, spending more time than usual talking to the older lady that worked there. She was a regular here and had asked about the lady's summer; she'd always found it important to get to know even the most subtle people in your life if they were kind to you.

However, she now had to hurry through the halls of the Roost to the back lecture hall, as she was late to the one class she shouldn't be late to: Sterns'. She hadn't had a class this big since her first year here, so she had forgotten just how many students were in the class. They were all just quieting down and there was still a small rustle of book bags and pens.

He was already starting to explain his expectations when she sat down. She grabbed a chair by the door, not wanting to make a scene, but he nodded to her nonetheless when she looked up. A few students noticed her, realizing what her position must be, and went back to furiously taking notes.

She found a syllabus on the seat next to her and grabbed it with her free hand _. Nothing new,_ she thought looking it over; it was pretty straight forward, his classes were all set up the same: 2 papers, a final paper, and a few short analyses here and there. She would be in charge of holding office hours for extra help; some students would automatically be recommended to go, so she'd have to be there no matter what every week.

She looked around the large room at the students, mostly heads down and writing. She couldn't wait for their first paper to be given back. Hermione had been astonished by her final analysis in the end, because he showed her just how much she expanded and improved. She looked forward to helping other students feel the same way about their work.

As she scanned the seats, she saw an eager girl in the second row and a young boy next to her, both looking hard and narrow at Sterns. They were trying to hide their enthusiasm for the literature they'd be covering this year. Sterns was in the middle of explaining that it was an American Literature class, covering certain classics like The Grapes of Wrath and Great Expectations. Hermione had read only a few in high school and now, in Sterns class, but it was going to be fun seeing other's opinions on the books.

Her mind wandered to her office and desk, and she pictured herself grading papers on a rainy afternoon with a cup of coffee. It was beautiful; to be relaxing and reading analyses of various book passages. Her gaze became vacant as she was lost in her own thoughts of books piled on her desk and red pens fresh on white paper. Blinking a few times to bring herself back to the present, her eyes focused in on the first noticeable object in the room. She almost spit her drink back out as she halted her gaze immediately upon seeing him. A head of white blonde hair was visible opposite where she sat. _That_ _'s_ _it. Just my luck_ _._

In the back row, next to the pretty boy Blaise from the other night was the pretentious boy in all his glory, lounging back in his chair like he hadn't a care in the world. His feet were up on the next row, much to the disgrace of a disgruntled girl in front of him, and he was drinking a coffee carelessly. He had no notebook or syllabus in front of him, only a small paper owl that, while quite adorable, also had writings on the wings that looked very much like the grading scale for the class.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at his obvious disregard for Sterns' credentials in academia. She quickly thought about her not so conspicuous entrance and wondered if he had seen her come in. From where she was seated, he might have missed her as she had ducked behind students to grab a seat.

 _Anyway, w_ _hat in bloody hell is he doing taking this class?! It's probably going to be too difficult for him, I doubt he'll be able to even get a C in this class_ _. He'll whine when he sees the red marks on his paper!_ It made her feel better to justify her own anger with his lack of writing skills, even if she had no proof of them yet.

As she relished in her premier writing skills that she figured she had every right to gloat of, she glared at him analytically. A pair of sunglasses were perched in his blonde hair and his school spirited sweatshirt fit him well; if only he gave a little effort to appear studious, he would look like an ad for the university, an attractive one at that. His shoulders were slouched back and Hermione had to fight to stop her insistent thoughts about him.

Sterns loudly cleared his throat, and Hermione was pushed right back into reality. She quickly faced right forward, looking back up at Sterns and trying her hardest to pay attention to his every word. He always did a throat clear when he found more than half the room nodding off; it must have been that time and she was a culprit too.

She started paying attention again so it would get her mind off those crazy thoughts she'd just had. They had come out of nowhere and she knew they couldn't be real; she hated him so much. She couldn't find him attractive and decent, not when she knew the truth.

She was angry he was still finding a way into her life, while directly it was not exactly his fault that she happened to be TAing his particular class, it was still an irritatingly stupid coincidence. Her anger made her cheeks flush and she stared at him again with fire in her eyes.

She watched him lean forward to whisper something to Blaise who smacked him in the arm after looking disapproving. At least someone shared her taste for knowledge. _I still don't understand how they're friends,_ she thought. It made her angrier still to think of the events of the party yet again and she looked away.

She decided she needed to just ignore his presence in order to avoid detection so she didn't have to have another fight with him. She spent the rest of the class staring straight ahead at the board. Sterns began covering some American history for background. When the class finally came to an end, she couldn't help herself from glancing to his seat, which she found had already been long vacated, even before Sterns fully said "dismissed."

...

Draco waltzed out of the classroom, much to Blaise's dismay, with an air of vanity that did not go unnoticed by a vast majority of people in the room. A few girls' eyes seemed to linger in his absence, almost in a hopeful sort of way. Draco however, definitely felt the eyes on him, and a smile came to his lips as he pushed open the nearest door, placed his sunglasses back on, and went down the steps to the quad.

Draco had already gotten himself another coffee when Blaise spotted him. Blaise had waited in line to introduce himself to the professor, so it took him some time before he made it to the quad and even longer, for him to spot Draco.

"Why does it always surprise me when I actually see a book in your hands even though it has happened quite frequently?" he called up to Draco, who he found atop the wall that blocked in the garden around the grand fountain. In Draco's hands was a large book open to a random page and Draco was reading interestedly.

Draco smiled and raised up his cup in a cheers motion, taking a long sip. "Honestly mate, I didn't even know you knew where to look for a book until the first time I caught you and almost spit out my fire whiskey," Blaise chided. He was trying to get a rise out of Draco and hoped it would work.

Yet despite his disregard to muggle schoolwork, Draco had always seemed to sneak books out of the library out of sight of Madam Pince. She would have been shocked, both by someone stealing a free book and by who it happened to be but he didn't want people to think he actually enjoyed reading.

Very few people besides Blaise knew and he liked to keep it that way. It wasn't his fault Blaise had snuck out with some upperclassman girl and gotten drunk and tried to sneak her back. It was two in the morning and they found Draco asleep in the common room, the book still in his grasp. It was embarrassing as shit. But since their current situation did not warrant he put in any real study time and he didn't care what opinions muggles had of him, he was going to have a lot of free time. _Might as well start up again, even if it is this muggle garbage_.

"I didn't even know you remembered that Blaise, I'm rather impressed actually," Draco said over the top of the book. "What color was her underwear too? Come on, you must know." Draco hoped this jab would make Blaise back off, but it didn't seem to work as well as he'd hoped.

"That makes one of us and they were blue. Now, what is it then, give us a look," Blaise snatched the book from Draco's hand. Draco's mouth straightened and his eyes narrowed as Blaise analyzed the cover.

"Keats? Are you serious, is this is a muggle book?" he said, unable to prevent his laughter. "You definitely stole this."

"I didn't know it was a muggle book, when I acquired it-" Draco fought back.

"No, you knew it was muggle, we're in a fucking muggle university you twat," Blaise countered again.

"Okay, so I did steal it, but it's not like the idiot will even know. Used a cloaking charm, quite easy to slide it from their bag actually and you should be happy it's a muggle book, it's like I'm at least attempting to acclimate myself to them," Draco explained, as if it were an obvious thing for him to have done.

"Merlin, why do I even bother taking your wand anymore is beyond me," Blaise tossed the book at Draco rather hard. Draco caught it with ease, but looked concerned as he started checking his pockets.

"You took my-?" Draco looked incredulous realizing his wand was indeed missing. He raised his eyebrows in a sense of disregard to its absence. "Whatever, you can keep my wand if you'd like, I don't need it," Draco sounded condescending, but Blaise wasn't convinced.

He continued, hoping to bother Blaise just enough to give the wand back. It was as sore spot between them; wandless magic had come naturally to Draco, something about old pure blood magic he figured. But Blaise had never quite gotten it down and he was annoyed with Draco's ease with the skill.

"Or maybe, I should remind you more often how good I've gotten without my wand…" As Draco spoke, he let go of his book for a second to flick his finger, which caused Blaise's backpack to fall to the ground in front of him, books scattered. Blaise looked down in annoyance once again.

"Do I have to remind you we're in public? At a muggle university? In hiding?" Blaise shouted, looking irritated as he gathered his bag, placing it back on the wall neatly and stacking up the books. He sat on the bench in front of the wall once again when he was finished and removed a notebook, jotting down some fast words without another word to Draco.

"Oh come off it, I was just having some fun. Not like anyone would have actually seen that. Was just a little play, that's all," Draco stated, flipping through his book once again trying to find the page he was on. He wasn't sure if he'd liked the book because he still wasn't sure how he felt about the muggle author. He was quite the love sick teenager when he was writing, and it wasn't exactly Draco's taste.

After a while, he stopped flipping the pages and began to read once he found his place again. He figured he had to at least give this Keats fellow a chance if he were going to pass the time with only muggle books. And it would only help his reputation if he acted like the student he was at Hogwarts. He had been in the top of his class there and he knew with a little magic to help him he could easily do the same here. He was cunning enough to cheat the system to keep such a high reputation, even if it was only for muggle achievement, if there was ample competition. He doubted there would be.

He sat for a few more minutes before Blaise gathered his stuff to leave for his calculus class. "Don't do anything stupid," was all he said as he walked away, leaving Draco still atop the wall, a nasty sneer lingering on his face as this friend's annoying words.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

It was the end of the second week and Hermione sat, collecting her books after Sterns' class. She was furious at the fact she found herself searching for that sneer amongst the faces of the students she saw leaving the lecture hall every day this week. She had been looking around quite quickly, but not quickly enough apparently, for the boy was nowhere in sight once again. He always seemed to disappear before anyone else could actually get up. Maybe that was a good thing though, for Hermione's temper at least.

As she did a final survey of the room on her way out the door, she spotted Blaise, and she smiled. He made a curt nod to her and then shouldered his bag and left. _At least there was still a handsome face to admire,_ she thought to herself as she glanced at the clock as well. _Shoot, I need to meet the girl I'm mentoring!_ And with that, she headed straight out the doors.

She went across the library garden to the café. It was a small little shop with only a walk-up window. There were a large cluster of tables and chairs outdoors for nice weather. Since it had been a gorgeous fall day, there weren't many open if any and Hermione looked around. She was supposed to meet up with her mentee here. The girl's class got out ten minutes before Hermione's, so she had said she would save them a table.

Most of the tables were already cluttered with study materials, which even for Hermione, was quite an absurd amount for only the second week. Amidst the clutter she soon spotted a girl seated by herself with a cup of coffee and a muffin, a sea of red hair gleaming in the light on her shoulders. Hermione was instantly struck with a sense of déjà vu; she definitely recognized her.

 _Is that- it's the girl I saw on the first day! The one that… that did the thing with her hair and…_ even in her own thoughts she didn't want to admit to herself what she saw or thought she saw. It couldn't be what she thought, that she possibly saw **magic**. _No, it wasn't, remember? It totally wasn't, not HERE of all places, at this simple little university no, it wasn't. Just relax!_

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head of the thoughts. _She's just a freshman, she's harmless, and she HAS to be my mentee, she's the only person alone,_ she told herself in confidence. Hermione walked up to the tables and weaved her way towards the girl.

"You stole my table," Hermione commented upon approaching, making her words sound casual despite their accusation. She hoped this joke could break the ice well enough. She took the seat opposite the girl, who Hermione could now see close up. Her face was pretty with fiery eyes and a splash of freckles along her high cheeks. Her red hair really looked like flames around her and it suited her, Hermione quickly took note, as she spoke.

"And who the bloody hell are you anyway," the girl chimed back, raising her eyebrows. "I don't see a name anywhere," and she gestured to the table in between them.

"Oh!" Hermione said taken aback. "I was kidding actually, I'm Hermione. I think I'm your-" she had started to say, before the girl cut her off with a grin.

"Mentor! I know, I figured. I didn't mean to scare you there," the girl added with apology, "it's just, you're like the fifth person to try to take this bloody table from me! You'd think it was made out of galleons or erm gold or something…" She seemed to stumble a bit on her words. It was a curious thing but maybe she was just nervous, Hermione thought. "Are students always this competitive for table space here, or is it a special occasion?"

"Really, the best ones are by far in the library. East wing has extra staircases in the back that not many people know about," Hermione stated, setting her bag next to her and unzipping her jacket. "It's kind of a secret spot, like in old castles and dungeons, at least that's what the boy who told me said. He was a history major and I forced him to tell me during finals week freshman year because I was freaking out and needed a better place to study. What can I say, the library gets packed beyond belief and I can get a little psycho about my grades so," She smiled telling the memory and the girl laughed.

"That's actually hilarious. So I take it you're super smart then. Perfect. I'm Ginny by the way," the girl added and held her hand out. "I'm also used to living with 6 brothers, so excuse me if I'm a little, uh, on the harsh side sometimes. My sarcasm has a way of getting away from me."

"Oh no worries, my roommate's a wildcard, not to mention all the crazy girls she brings home with her, so it's nothing I can't handle," Hermione said taking her hand and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you in person. So, how's the first week treating you here?" Hermione inquired, waiting for the girl's reply.

"Well, I did find this university vastly different from my original one, shitty if you ask me," Ginny said, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, I'm sorry I hadn't realized you're a transfer. And what do you mean, shitty? Have you looked around at this place?! It's practically a castle, how can you not like it?" Hermione asked, incredulous that this girl was already putting the school down without giving it a chance. She liked it a lot here.

"Well, that's just it; my last school WAS a castle. Well, it was in a castle," Ginny said. "You can see why this could be, uh unimpressive?" She sounded like she was searching for a gentler word than she originally came up with.

"Well then! Let me give you the grand ole spiel about why this University is the premiere academy of the well-educated British nobility and has been ranked seven times in the UK's most competitive top ten lists of graduates!" Hermione said as if she were suddenly spitting out tour guide pamphlets from her mouth.

The redhead across from her leaned in on her elbows. She appeared to be intrigued in the school, but Hermione could catch a hint of jest in her expression and her voice when she said, "Oh do tell me you had to memorize all of that, or I'll piss myself if you did so on your own!"

"No interruptions, now let's get started!" Hermione began in false introduction, "So: there's plenty of your basic clubs, intramural sports, club sports teams, community service groups, then there's the university sports teams, but you have to try out for those, let's go Lions!" she did a fake pompom cheer.

Ginny laughed. "Come off it, they actually try to convince people to go here by telling them they can join a club and go to a football game? Times are really hitting hard, huh?" Hermione felt instantly comfortable with this girl, and it felt good to not have to put on an act like she thought she was going to have to (besides this little game of tour guide shit she was doing).

"Well no, obviously that's not totally what gets people to come. A lot of people are on scholarship, like myself, and the academics are some of the best in Europe," Hermione mentioned in her real voice again.

"Well while schoolwork seems amazingly great and all, what actual things are fun around here, like I bet you are president of like five clubs just because there's nothing to do here," Ginny said after their laughter stopped. Hermione thought about what else there was and her mind was brought back to partying. The school's messy social scene came to her mind in a foggy haze as a reminder of the weekend.

Ginny was a genuine girl and made her opinions well known. She wasn't interested in clubs and research papers; she was interested in having fun and that didn't include anything Hermione had listed. Hermione liked that about the girl, and was happy to realize she didn't actually want help with the typical mentoring crap like how to makes friends and help on homework assignments.

"No actually, if you must joke like that, I'll inform you that I'm only on the board of two clubs and I only really like one of them, so you aren't too far off," Hermione said, "but I did sleep with the student association president so I could have more funds to work with." She laughed and Ginny looked rather impressed. "What, it's not like anyone wants to see the hula hoop club do the same dance to twist and shout for the sixth semester in a row, they could use a little less money."

At this Ginny burst out laughing even harder. She had to admit, this girl was right up her alley: witty and sarcastic but still clever. It was refreshing and reminded her a lot of, unfortunately, Harry. His knack for choice words in the right situations was admirable and this girl had a similar sense of humor. She liked this girl and she wanted to make this friendship happen. Besides, Ginny and Luna were alone here and it would be valuable to have some friends on this side of the situation that was starting to brew back home.

"You're lying! That is too good though, must make things easier for your clubs, probably won all the awards that year!" Ginny winked.

"Well, surprisingly for the president of student 'affairs' he is quite bad with affairs of the intimate sort…" Hermione mentioned as she recalled her confusion at his blatant inexperience. _It was worth it to give the local charity the proper benefit event this year anyway,_ she thought _._ She shrugged and continued.

"Anyway, okay, so a lot of the clubs are exclusive and hold tons of parties on weekends, but I find the sports teams' ones are better," Hermione said, finding that she couldn't avoid recalling her not so proud escapades of the first weekend back.

It felt fresh in her mind because she hadn't spotted the inane little ferret after class today. Every other day this week he had strutted out like he was a king and it annoyed her to no end. She really hadn't wanted to turn into a time bomb, ready to explode with anger whenever she saw his vile, arrogant face. But it felt like that was what was going to happen if she ever had to talk to him again. He was just so unpleasant.

Her nose crinkled up at the thought of him causing Ginny to cock her head to the side.

"Oh, sorry! I, the parties are a lot of fun really! I just, I met this complete jerk this weekend and thought I wouldn't have to deal with him ever again but, we have class together. Annoying really, but it's fine!" Hermione cleared up, _I'm not even going to let myself go there. He's stupid._

"Oh boy, well what did he do? Was he a perv, did he try to come on to you?! Boys when they drink get so handsy," Ginny said eagerly. She looked off into space and smiled slyly, like she was remembering some welcome advance from some guy at her old school. Hermione wanted to ask but decided against it; they had just met after all.

She listened to Hermione continue on about her weekend for the next fifteen minutes or so. Hermione explained the houses on the West Side, where all the parties were and she explained all that happened last weekend. She didn't give full details about what the boy said to her, just an explanation of his attitude problem was enough.

"What a complete arse, reminds me of some kids I knew at school. No one liked them, not even the teachers in their house- I mean, their faculty advisor? Anyway never mind take me with you to the next time, I love a good fight," Ginny stated in a very brave sort of way. Hermione got the feeling she talked like this a lot. It was refreshing to see such a strong young woman.

"Well, that can definitely be arranged, are you free tonight? A few of my girlfriends are coming over, and Erin will be her normal drunk self. It'll be loads of fun!" Hermione gushed suddenly. It was time she showed Ginny the real fun at this place.

"That sounds awesome actually. Can I bring Luna, she's so nice, you'll love her, she's my roommate!" Ginny asked, very excitedly.

"Of course. The more, the merrier! Now, why don't you tell me about your old school then? Why was it so much better?" Hermione changed the subject back to her school. It seemed curious to Hermione that, despite appearing as a normal college girl, she spoke with a few strange phrases here and there that made her seem completely backwards. It was like she was from another place or time, saying things that didn't quite sound right. _Maybe it's all in my head because I'm remembering the magic? Oh I don't know…_ Hermione thought, trying to pay attention to the now chatterbox in front of her.

"Oh it was loads better than here! We had a huge black lake and this forest that we weren't allowed to go in and…" Ginny continued explaining about the school that sounded like something out of a storybook. She talked of towers for classrooms and huge staircases. She talked about the dormitories that everyone stayed in that felt like home. Hermione was lost in Ginny's recollection; it felt like something from a dream, like something Hermione had thought up when she was little.

Ever since Hermione had figured out about her own magic and learned to control it, she had always dreamed of a place where she belonged, where she would go to a magical place and learn wondrous things. Now as an adult, reality presented itself to her in the form of a university and a degree she liked. But as she heard Ginny talk, the more she felt that Ginny talked as if her old school were that 'magical place.' Hermione didn't feel that way about this place; she liked it yes, she had some amazing friends, but there was still a tiny place in her heart that felt hollow.

She pushed these thoughts aside however. _This isn't about me, it's about mentoring this girl! So she fits in here!_ Hermione reminded herself. She vacated the thoughts from her mind and continued to listen about the wonders of Ginny's old school for some time.

When Ginny seemed to stop and think, Hermione got the courage to speak up. "So, if it was so grand a place, why did you leave, if you don't mind me asking? I don't want to pry since we like, don't really know each other yet but I'm also here to help if you need, kind of my job really," Hermione was rambling but she couldn't help it; she felt bad, she had always had good experiences here.

"It was cool until things began to change," the girl spoke with a voice different than that of before; it now had a slight melancholic tone. "My brothers and I, we all went to this uni together, it was a family tradition," she trailed off, lost in some sad daydream.

"And… And I left because there had been a lot of corruption within the system I guess. And there's more still going on. One or two violent protests and my mum thought it best to get on out… It was probably smart you know," Ginny explained, and while she talked her voice became steady.

"It'll pass, it should pass. I wanted to participate. I felt very strongly with the positions people were rallying for. But my mum is such a fuss, probably why I'm so stubborn. Anyway, there's a lot of us wanting to put an end to all of it so, there's that. I'm going to try to be optimistic and help out best I can from here but we'll see how that goes. And if that doesn't work there's got to be some kind of distraction here, I just know it."

Her spirits were as quick changing as stoplights, but Hermione could tell the girl was sincere and hopeful, and was looking to Hermione for help, maybe even friendship. If that's what she needed to lighten her spirits than Hermione was willing to help. _But why hadn't I heard of all this protesting then, especially if it had turned violent…_ Hermione told herself to check the news that night, and to start being more vigilant.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear all that. I'm sure you'll find less scary stuff here, there's a nice relationship between administration and faculty and students," Hermione recalled never having a bad experience with a teacher. "And I'm sure you'll find in no time that you fit in here just the same! At least, that's my goal anyway!"

"Ha, well I would like that very much. You are doing an excellent job, in case you were wondering," Ginny said as she stood. "I have one more class just now, but I'm holding you to that, send me your address! Ugh, I can't wait!" She took off waving and disappeared inside the doors of the Roost. Hermione was left at the table alone.

She thought about the girl she had just met; it felt that she was already friends with Ginny for months now, not hours. _Well, that went well, she actually was a doll. I want to know so much more about that school of hers too…_ Hermione thought, and she just couldn't put a finger on just why she felt so intrigued. She pushed away the teeny, tiny ray of hope that came to her mind when she remembered seeing Ginny the first day and the magic she thought she saw. She wouldn't judge this friendship on that.

In any case, it had been a marvelous start to the beginning of the school year. New friends might just make this year more bearable, she thought as she strode off shouldering her large bag to get in line for another coffee before heading to her next class.

…

Draco's boredom with Keats was really starting to weigh in. He was sitting in a particularly bendy tree outside the Roost that he had found the second day, the tattered volume clutched in one hand. Blaise was nowhere in sight and Theo had told him he was doing research today, so Draco was on his own after his lit class. He was significantly further into the book than before, but he hadn't made an effort to find the library yet. He was stuck with the annoyingly repetitive poet's love-struck words.

The more Draco thought about it, the more he understood why he disliked the man. He closed the book, suddenly irritated by the romance Keats talked about. Not that love hadn't ever sparked his interests, no. There was that time with Pansy that he thought there could be something there. That was back in fourth year… _Yeah, but then she made out with both Flint and Marcus in the same night so like, really, your_ _aspirations on love aren't exactly great…_ he thought, recalling that disaster.

And he'd only been freshly a teenager at that point. It hurt a lot but that was nothing compared to a real heartbreak, if he'd ever know it. He felt like if he had ever been in love, he'd have known it by now. Well, for lack of relationship keeping he sure did make up for it in the bedroom; he'd seen more Ravenclaw girls without their clothes on than with them on. And the Slytherin girls weren't far behind, although some of them were quite smart to try to win his favor first. That sometimes worked, he remembered, recalling how he did take worthy enough girls on dates to Hogsmeade and the like.

There were even a few girls that tried too hard for his attention come sixth year, where he had found two different girls wearing hardly anything on two separate occasions; one in his bed come Christmas break with nothing on but a bow, and the other, a rather sly girl, actually managed to surprise him in the shower. _Sly or daft, I don't think I'll ever know…_

 _Fuck when did I last get a shag in? It's been ages it feels…_ Draco thought then. He looked around the quad in front of him searching for something pretty to look at. Maybe one of the muggle girls around here would actually be worth looking at for longer than it took to shoot her an insult. He doubted but looked anyway.

As he searched around, his mind wandered back to Pansy. She had been quite the pretty little thing, if he recalled correctly, despite her nagging, high pitched voice. He remembered when he'd finally hooked up with her, after the Christmas ball in fifth year. A group of the Slytherins in his grade had stolen some fire whiskey from the kitchens and got drunk in a back dungeon. She looked much better when her voice wasn't reeling on about things he couldn't care less about.

It had been a fun night, but it was clear Pansy wanted more when Draco didn't. There were plenty of other fish in the sea better than Pansy that he went after, but when he didn't feel like trying she would gladly come to his bed, any time. She was that girl for him but now, even having her would have suited him alright.

His mind wandered back to the present, his body still remembering escapades with Miss. Parkinson. There was a half-blood girl in Ravenclaw once who had been great in bed, better than Pansy even, and he considered making her his go-to. _Why have I never considered a muggle girl though? It literally has never crossed my mind, isn't that something?_ He thought of his childhood; he never knew anything but hate for muggles.

Yet here he was, sitting around near them, studying with them, partying with them, watching muggle girls ogle at him even. What did that even mean? His eyes were still scanning the gardens before him for good looking girls or anything interesting at this point, when he caught sight of a familiar face and his eyes darted back, almost too suddenly.

 _Fucking bitch,_ he thought as he scrutinized the girl from the party standing in line for coffee near the library. _And there it was again, an insult. Why is that my immediate reaction?_ She warranted quite a lot of anger from him without doing much. Maybe that was why he was so quick to insult her, it didn't really have much to do with her blood status, did it? _Whatever, she's still a cunt and Blaise is putting thoughts into my mind that AREN'T mine…_

She stood with her hips cocked to the side, no doubt trying to shift the weight of her bag so it didn't break. It appeared beaten up, like it had seen the weight of many texts. As she waited, he saw her take a volume, open to a random page and start reading. She could easily maneuver the queue of the line despite her interest in the book, and a faint smile was hanging on her lips. _Bet she thinks she's so smart, reading while waiting in line, pft! Anyone can do that. I can, I read._

The more he stared the less insults he could come up with in his head. His eyes followed down her slender figure and the smear of memories from the previous weekend blurred his vision. He recalled only snippets after that sixth or seventh large glass of rum, and something in the way she was standing reminded him of her dancing. Her denim shorts were ripped and tattered but they fit her snuggly in all the right places. Draco sucked in air quick when he noticed her white tank sliding down her shoulder from the weight of her bag.

He looked away suddenly, aware of his staring and pissed at himself for it. He recalled her fighting back, her crafted insults comparable to his own and that rarely ever happened for him. It took him by surprise and not a good one, bringing out the fight in him. A muggle couldn't be on his level, he thought. _Could she?_ She clearly had to be somewhat intelligent to be able to talk the way she did to him, he'd give her that. Draco grew frustrated how everything seemed to keep bringing him back to his fucked up view on blood statuses.

On top of that, Draco remembered feeling a bizarre kind of desire at her backlash and that clearly did not settle well in his stomach. He was not ready for that kind of feeling for a muggle, not at all, especially for such a bitch of a girl. Draco glanced back and watched as she shoved her bag further up her shoulder, a spatter of freckles left behind in its wake. In that instant he wanted to know just why she made him tick.

She finally reached the front of the line and Draco looked away, lest he let his anger take him out of control. He wanted to approach her. He wanted to get off out of this tree and walk right up and say something, anything, just to see her flare at him again but he didn't know why.

He definitely wanted to prove he could manipulate her, have the upper hand because with all his upbringing, he knew it was a Malfoy trait to be able to do that. To want to do that. And he wasn't used to not getting his way. The more he thought about the way their fight ended, the angrier he became. _Why should a stupid bitch like her get to have the edge over me? Was she really that clever? What was she playing at?_

He jumped out of the tree on impulse, taking an angry waltz forward in his most vengeful gait towards her. He was still quite far from the coffee line and he paused as he watched her brush her hair off her shoulder; she dropped her money and, in an effort to pick it up without losing her place in her book, she bent over in a sensual sort of way and that was it. The sight was too much for Draco who, at that moment, felt the worst thing he could possibly imagine, just below his belt. He flinched at the idea that his body would respond like that without his will; _she did NOT just almost get me hard._ His thoughts were vicious. _It's just because I've been horny lately, I was thinking of Pansy. That's the ONLY reason. Ugh._

From behind him came Blaise's voice in a sudden shout. "Aye, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Blaise had just come from the Roost when he had spotted Draco and immediately came to intervene. As he approached, Draco tensed then halted, still in shock from his sudden, embarrassing body impulse.

"Take it down a notch, it's like your pure blood instincts were activated or something you actually look murderous," Blaise said in a quieter tone, judging Draco's poised stance and the hateful look in his eye.

Draco was suddenly dizzy. What exactly had he been going to do? He shook his head, forgetting he jumped from the tree. He was now standing awkwardly on the cobblestone walkway, staring in the direction of the coffeehouse with an angry scowl on his face.

 _Why is this stupid bitch still on my mind, honestly?! How can I let this bother me so much, ugh!_ He must have gotten up to walk over and start a row with her again. He didn't know if he was motivated to approach her because it might somehow prove he was correct in all his blood purity bullshit and he would get his way over her or if it was really from that twitch that reminded him of just how much he wanted sex. He would be disgusted if it were because of the latter. _It couldn't be, not at all,_ he protested to himself, denying his uncontrollable reaction yet again. _Not for a muggle, I was thinking of Pansy that's all…_

"Don't tell me, another muggle piss you off again? We really got to work on your people skills, and by people I'm including muggles alright," Blaise stated simply and looked around. When he spotted her, he knew why Draco was so on edge. "Oi, look at that it's your favorite little minx Draco, why don't you go offer to buy her coffee? She really does have quite the leg on her, no?" Blaise laughed at his own joke but quickly stifled it.

"I wouldn't be caught dead buying that bitch anything, I'd rather curse her but you know, people around, I have a little self-restraint left," Draco said firmly, not even addressing the comment Blaise made about her legs. He hoped Blaise would buy his bluff; in his mind, his thoughts were still raging against his better judgement. He looked at her legs quick anyway and hated that Blaise was right. He turned away.

"You are by far the most annoying stereotype of a pureblood I've ever seen," Blaise said.

"Yeah, but I can't help how I was brought up so you have to forgive me, naturally," Draco drawled as if it was logical, walking with Blaise away from the coffee line. Blaise took a seat on a bench outside the science building as Draco continued to pace.

"Why don't you start doing yourself a favor then and forgive yourself too. And forgive her. She's still a person, muggle or no, and you have no idea how she was brought up either," Blaise mentioned.

"Ugh, that's just it! I'm so sick of this!" Draco ran his hands through his hair looking frustrated. "I'm trying okay, I'm damn well trying to see things differently. Ever since Theo mentioned all that shit the first night my mind's been reeling," he said softly, clearly not happy to reveal some vulnerability even to Blaise.

"Good, you should be trying. As for her though, she's just a girl. A person. Just like you, just like me," Blaise said encouragingly but Draco went silent.

Getting up and actually confronting her would be a pretty bold move on his part. If she had tried to fight back he probably would curse her, his natural instinct plus he had the upper hand that way, he knew.

 _But if I don't curse her, would she put up another whiplash of a retort like before?_ She might impress him with that, he mused, but that was beside the point. Just because he was a little horny didn't mean he should pick a fight with a muggle just to get off. Had she actually tried to come onto him last weekend, Draco didn't know what he would have done.

He had never had to deal with such a situation and he was raised that he shouldn't. He knew how to manipulate and damage weaker people, not get affection from them. Sure, girls flattered him all the time, in droves behind him like flies, but that was different. _They'd all been witches,_ he laughed to himself trying to see if humor would relax his mind.

Yet if he still wanted girls flocking after him in great numbers, and of course he did, sooner or later he was going to find himself having to make do with what was available. He cringed at the thought. Muggle girls. But accepting them and their flattery was different than full on sleeping with them; he had accepted muggle partying, drinking games, and coming to muggle class. Blaise's words came back to him. They were people, just girls. Why was that such a hard concept to accept? Maybe he'd have to start lightening up…

"Hello, Draco?" He hadn't heard Blaise calling. "Come on, you're starting to scare people," Blaise said then, looking around them. A few people glanced at Draco's distraught figure still pacing. He stopped then, wondering if there would be any peace for the conflicting thoughts now roaming through his mind.

"Blaise, where did you say Pansy was again?" he asked. _Maybe if I get a hold of her she could pay me a little visit, get my mind off things…_ a wicked smile curled his lips.

"You look like you want to rail her out this second but I didn't say I knew where she was actually," Blaise cocked one eyebrow up knowingly. Blaise knew quite well Draco's relationship with Pansy and the only reason he asked about her would most likely be to satisfy his own lust.

"I doubt you can get a hold of her amidst all this just for a shag," Blaise said.

"Fine, it was just a thought," Draco stated then, antsy at being denied what he wanted.

"There's still plenty of muggle girls out there, although if you really are looking for one like Pansy you were headed in the right direction," Blaise joked to Draco, pointing over towards where the coffee line was. They could just see the end of the sitting area. "She's got the same temper but is better at using it, that's for sure." Blaise had to dodge Draco then, who lunged furiously, pulling Blaise to the ground. He tackled him and the boys fought for a little while before separating in a huff.

"Shut your mouth Blaise before I make you! Stop bragging to me about wanting to fuck her, I don't like her, just drop it before I really do a number on you," threatened Draco once he'd caught his breath. Blaise straightened his collar looking sullen. "I have enough on my mind without you trying to get me to fuck a muggle for Merlin's sake!"

"Okay, okay, fair enough. But you really might want to consider the fact that unless by some crazy means Pansy shows up, you will be out of commission if you don't want to sleep with a muggle. Just trying to show you the options mate," Blaise mentioned, as if Draco hadn't already thought of that.

"Yeah, yeah…" was all Draco replied. "Don't you have a calculus class to go fail or something?" With that he strode off, the anger still fresh on his lips. Once well inside the building nearest to him, he sat against the wall taking a deep breath. Blaise didn't follow.

He needed to get a hold of himself. He couldn't let some foolish muggle girl get to him this way; even if she was by some measure, kind of attractive. The minute the thought came to his mind he gagged; he was mad at himself for admitting she was good looking.

But Blaise was right; if he didn't sleep with a muggle, he wasn't going to be sleeping with anyone. And that fucking blew. Not only did the idea of sleeping with a muggle disgust him, but he felt like he would be shaming his family if he did. They would disown him for sure if he did, but he wasn't sure he cared about that so much. It would be a great way to get back at his father for all his bullshit through the years. The thought made him laugh.

However he still didn't know what would happen to him physically if he did sleep with one. He was forbidden from taking any muggle studies classes so he actually knew very little besides his parents' vulgar lies. Blaise had already slept with that girl Jess and he was no less able to use his wand. He wasn't harmed, diseased, or changed at all, as far as Draco knew. So really, what was the real harm? He wasn't sure there was one.

 _Ugh, this is all too much,_ he thought. He didn't want to have to be questioning sleeping with muggles. It seemed so beneath him all his life that now, without his father spitting slanders down his back, he was finally starting to see a change and it scared him. It might not have appealed to him before but he couldn't deny the subconscious twitch of his groin when he saw the curve her waist made as she bent to pick up her change.

 _Whatever, it's just attraction, it doesn't mean I have to act on it, not at all,_ he told himself then. _I guess that's what it means for me to accept muggles a little more, let them flatter me with physical attractiveness,_ he cringed. The only good thing coming from this was how good it made him feel to have girls want him; despite being muggles, he still loved flattery and he had forgotten what it was like. His reminder had come at the parties they went to that past weekend and while on campus for class and at the gym working out. Girls saw him everywhere and they weren't hiding their second glances. He loved it.

Draco found these thoughts dueling in his mind. It gave him a headache. Taking a few more deep breaths, he straightened and cleared his throat. _What am I doing, letting a little muggle get in my way and fuck up my mind? She's just a girl, a bitch to be clear and that's enough of a reason to hate her,_ he thought aggressively. It had to stop. _I'm a Malfoy, damn it._

Draco agreed to himself that he wouldn't seek her out and thus wouldn't succumb to her insults any longer. She didn't flatter him or beg to be with him, and he'd much rather have that than anything. _So she's not worth my time_ , he thought. _If I have to put up with muggles I'll have them tied around my finger, not running the show for me._

As he walked away, his mind felt better, more settled despite a small flicker of fear that he pushed to the recesses. He decided to find the library after all, a slight smirk bouncing to his lips. It would be a good distraction, always had. He made himself a deal as well; he wouldn't bother with that girl from the party no. _Not unless she started something first. Something worth his time…_

…

Hermione left the classroom happily; the first two weeks had been successful and she had just gotten out of her last class early. _What a great start to this school year,_ she thought to herself as she walked out of the classroom with the rest of the chattering students. All of them seemed thrilled to be out early, ready to start the weekend, but Hermione had other plans.

She glanced at her watch; it was only 3:25pm. That meant she still had about three hours until she was planning to be home to get take-out with Erin. She made a swift turn at the next corridor and set her mind on the library. It would be good to get ahead and make a calendar of all her due dates, office hours, and club meetings; organization being one of her strong points.

As she approached the large, stone building on the North end of campus, she checked the sign to make sure it wasn't closed yet. _Good, still two hours to go,_ she thought as she swung open the large doors. Inside, the library opened to a large room that towered high above her head in long rows of books. The shelves went back far with a long row of full length windows to the left that only reached halfway back to how far the shelves went.

There was a second story balcony of shelves overlooking the front half of the library, with desks to study on. Some, Hermione noticed, were already occupied by students eager to get ahead. She made her way to the back, where she knew her favorite spot would not be taken; the spot she had mentioned to Ginny earlier in the week. She made her way quietly to the back of the library, climbing a small staircase to the East wing that appeared to be haphazardly added to the building some years back.

 _This way I'll be able to focus, my secret spot is always desert-_ but her thoughts were cut off as she approached the corner where her spot usually was. It was a small window that had a small desk placed on the sill itself. Hermione had been so fond of it, she had made sure to use a little magic during finals week to keep others away from it. But now, the spot was occupied for what felt like the first time ever, by none other than the vicious blonde boy whose name she had obviously forgotten.

She was angry alright, but before she could be found out she quickly ducked behind one of the shelves. Walking down the aisle quietly, she got about halfway before pulling out a rather thick book in front of her to get a closer look. Something about him drew her in, in the same way it had that first day she had seen him from her classroom.

He was lounging back in the desk, his legs draped up on it with his back leaning against the window pane. He had a small book in one hand while the other mindlessly twirled a thick strand of his white blonde hair. Hermione narrowed her eyes at his obvious disregard for the proper use of _her_ study spot. His muddy boots were getting dirt on the surface, which would make it impossible for anyone to use unless they wanted to grow plants in their textbooks.

 _How inconsiderate,_ she thought, but the more she stared the more she realized was confused by what she saw. His fingers moved around his hair in a very tempting sort of way and he seemed genuinely interested in the book in his hands. She looked over the stacks nearby him to find an empty space, to get some idea of what he was reading. In seconds she noticed in the K's section, a small space the size of the volume he had.

 _You're kidding? He's reading poetry? That can't be for a class, poetry's only offered every other semester!_ Hermione couldn't help but be surprised. The boy she saw before her could not be the same boy from the party, the one who yelled and fought her. He looked peaceful for once in his life and his sharp features defined his deep thought in the book. Hermione was breathless. His pale skin and hair stood out strong against the purpling of the sky behind him.

He flipped a page then, and began reading a new poem. This time however, she could feel his annoyance at something he had read and the air grew stiff. She had only ever seen him two ways, confident and cocky, and then, when she had gotten in his face, anger and vindication. All she had felt for him before was dislike. She was pissed off whenever she thought about him, but now, a tiny bit of empathy came to her. He looked stressed.

She was confused. W _hat was he doing here of all places? And reading?_ It sure was a curious sight to see since she had only ever managed to catch glimpses of him during class. He was always his usual self then. He tossed the book aside then, clearly annoyed, and stared out the window biting his nail.

As she leaned in further, she saw him get up then and walk slowly over to where the book had dropped. He picked it up slowly, found the page he was in, and dog-eared the page before closing it and tucking it under his arm. She moved her hand up to move another book so she could get a better view of him, when she saw the book slip through her grasp and crash to the floor.

The sound reverberated in the almost empty library and Draco's head flashed in her direction. She ducked quickly, holding her breath. He looked around, his brow furrowing as he saw the smallest flash of a white shirt behind the shelf nearest him. A peek of freckled skin was visible halfway down the shelf in front of him.

"Who's there?" he stated firmly. Hermione sat motionless behind the shelf, thankful there were no gaps in the books she had crouched behind.

Draco took a step forward, closer. He could swear he recognized that white and freckles somewhere, but he couldn't be sure. He paused for another minute before he smiled suspiciously as he remembered. "I don't want to play games with a stranger and neither do you. You don't know me, I don't play fair," he warned quietly. He sounded almost seductive and Hermione let out a small gasp; she quickly put a hand to her mouth to stay quiet, mad at herself.

The air hung onto his words for a few seconds before the sound of his boots were heard walking back down the corridor and turning to leave. Hermione waited until she heard the echo of his boots on the stairs disappear before she dared move.

…

Draco crept slowly through the double doors of the library on top of the hill and looked around. After getting out of his last class for the day and fighting a little more with Blaise over that weird jump he made after that stupid muggle, he needed to get away and relax on his new attitude toward everything. Plus, he had left Blaise to run off to his stupid calculus class, so there was nothing to distract his busy mind from himself.

 _Always the brainiac, that Blaise is,_ Draco thought, as he walked out onto the floor. _And yet, some of my grades still proved better than his, so there!_ The entrance was grand and open, a second floor ran around one side. Back at Hogwarts Draco didn't dare let on that he cared about literature other than academics, but truthfully he found time to sneak away from friends in order to get some extra volumes here and there. He was fascinated by old stories of crazy wizards creating new spells and hexes and potions. He liked hearing direct tales of goblin uprisings and old feudal wars with real dragons and giants running wild. It was an easy escape from reality. Maybe somewhere in here he would find the same plus with muggle books he wouldn't have to happen upon old beliefs or pureblood messes that always seemed to fuck up magic's history. _That really did happen frequently with magic literature… oh well._

He climbed the wide, grand staircase that was halfway across the room in front of him. Below, he could see rows upon rows of texts and volumes, some haphazardly strewn in piles in the corner on tables for studying. To his left and right, additional library wings continued, and he could just make out several more staircases, some appeared to be added to the building after the fact, making them misplaced and awkward. Draco was reminded of the changing grand staircases in Hogwarts and became a little sad that he would not get to gaze upon them this year.

Draco walked around the balcony silently, hoping not to see anyone, lest they blow his cover. _Last thing I want is to be caught in a library,_ he thought, before remembering he really didn't fucking care what a muggle would think if they saw him there anyway. If he were at Hogwarts he would have taken much more caution but here, well who fucking cared. _I'm throwing everything out the window lately,_ he sighed to himself. He relaxed and walked more naturally over to the railing overlooking the lower library, thinking about Hogwarts and how different this year turned out to be.

He missed having time to get lost in a new spell or charm. He missed the owls at breakfast and sneaking into the library at Hogwarts to steal a book or two and the cavernous feel of the Slytherin dungeons. He smiled as he felt like himself again, realizing he just did the same exact thing today as he would have if it had been his first week back at Hogwarts, minus the cool magic side of things.

 _Come in late occasionally,_ he had done that twice already, much to Blaise's chagrin. D _on't take notes, again Blaise was mad ha! And hit on some underclassman slut who's winning the battle for most broomstick rides in the first week, it's all the same really,_ Draco thought to himself, laughing.

He turned back to the far corner of the room and walked towards the shelves there. _Well, have some muggle girls follow you out of class hoping you'll speak to them is more the reality I have now, but I guess it does the trick._ He thought as he headed for a dark looking corner, where a crooked staircase went up steeply.

Intrigued he climbed it easily, his mind still on muggles and then on death eaters. He got the chills reaching the top thinking about just how shitty it was to be away from the place you called home for so long. He was frustrated, that was for sure. With everything. He didn't want to have everything change, but it looked like that might become inevitable.

He came to a landing which appeared to be nothing more than that and a very broken looking shelf with only a few books on it in front of him. A second staircase climbed up further still. He was about to go up but spied the smallest stream of light coming from a narrow slice between the shelf and the wall. He almost missed it had he not noticed the light but once he got closer he realized it was a tight squeeze to a hidden study area beyond. Getting though he found four rows of shelves on the other side. They were quite small, the last two of which held small desks set inside the windows. It was like his own personal hideout.

 _Perfect,_ he thought, scanning a nearby shelf, coming to a slow stop in the middle of the K section. To his luck, there was another of Keats' books there and he grabbed it before sitting down at the desk. He figured his best option was to buy some time for himself, forget about all the bullshit floating around with blood status and death eaters and muggles and classes and sex. He would get into this book if it were the death of him, just to escape his own thoughts.

As he flipped through the book, he realized it was a useless effort. Sticking with Keats might have been the wrong choice after all. He was continuously reminded of romance and love with every poem, it didn't seem to stop. And as he thought of love he thought of sex, and with sex came muggles and he was mad all over again. It was a vicious cycle.

He threw the book then, lightly onto the table where it slid to the end. Glaring out the window, mad again at the muggle girl and Blaise's constant nagging to accept them, he heard a sudden sound. Turning to look he stood, glancing around. It had sounded like someone dropping a book and he didn't feel like being confronted at the moment. He was too in his own mind to deal with someone.

"Who's there?" he said aloud, hoping to scare whoever it was away. Maybe it was just a draft in the library, it was getting old. He ducked down to try and see between the shelves when he saw what he was looking for. A smirk came to his lips; _looks like someone decided to start something…_

…

 _Calm down, he's gone, it's okay,_ she told herself, still breathing heavy. She was almost scared at the threat he made. Sure she had seen what he was like when he was bragging about his own, superior life to her. But he seemed to have hidden meaning in his words and Hermione didn't like that. _Was there a reason behind that front he put on so harshly? When he was alone he was practically docile!_ She was just so curious to figure him out.

The thoughts rolled around her mind as she got up. She wondered if he had stayed in the library or not. She fought the temptation to go look downstairs by perusing the volumes behind her but she soon couldn't resist. She hurried back through the same passage under the stairs towards the center of the library.

As she rounded the corner, she almost collided with a freshman carrying six large encyclopedias. Luckily, she bolted around them and made her way down the central staircase without much notice. Not that there was any worry; there was only one other student left up on the balcony and their nose was hidden in a book. She slid right towards a large shelf to her right and pretended to search for something.

All the while, she scanned the rest of the rows, searching for any sight of the boy anywhere still in the library. She didn't understand why she was so drawn to him; maybe it was the fact she found him hiding out in a library of all places. She couldn't resist a bookworm. _But you know what a dick he can be! Don't forget that! Ugh!_ She also couldn't deny the small portion of her heart that told her there had to be a little bit of good in everyone, but on him she wasn't sold.

If libraries were his safe haven and he actually liked reading, maybe he was more intelligent than she had originally thought. _He's still a douchebag, it shouldn't matter that he's smart,_ she told herself sternly, trying to push her admiration for intelligence away. It was why she admired Blaise so much more in class than the blonde anyway, because he actually looked like he cared about learning.

Thinking of Blaise and the boy in class finally brought him back in sight. He hadn't left the library, not just yet, and his image came into view taking Hermione by surprise. His slender frame was leaning against the front desk and he was actually having a charming conversation with the librarian! Hermione's jaw went slack with disbelief. She crept closer, wanting to see if she could sneak up to eavesdrop. She rounded the far end of the desk quickly, grabbing a novel from the nearest display and taking a seat at a table opposite where the librarian stood. She made a fumbling sort of sound to which the librarian looked over, but Malfoy didn't notice. She was safe.

Propping up the book to hide her face, she peeked over the side to look. He looked much more relaxed at the moment, speaking with his hands as the librarian smiled at him. She looked beyond excited that a student was so interested in something in her collection and she pointed to an extra set of books on a cart. He waved thanks to her and turned to look at the cart. _What am I actually seeing?_ She thought. _Is he actually having a normal, human conversation? About books nonetheless? I don't believe it!_

As he looked through the volumes on the cart, he had a direct view of Hermione at her table, and she noticed. She made sure to barely show her eyes above her book. To her surprise, he took no notice of her yet again. The only peculiar thing was the faint smile on his lips that made her think he was up to no good. And she wanted to know why.

 _Whoa Hermione, no. You are NOT interested in that snake! No! Stop it!_ She had to remind herself not to instantly be fooled by smarts. That's how she got herself into that mess with the student association president that she had told Ginny about earlier. _I'm not trying to have that happen again, but I doubt he's anything but prude like Lucas. Remember the way those girls followed him at the party and after class? Typical player. Ugh, he always provides evidence of his own folly,_ she huffed to herself, realizing once again she was tricked into thinking he was a great catch.

 _This can't happen again, I won't let it, I'm not interested I swear,_ she practically was shaking her own head to make herself believe she was being truthful. At that moment, she hid herself under the book, hating her racing thoughts. She let out a large sigh and she instantly regretted it.

A light snicker came softly to her ear under the book cover and she was mortified. She knew then she had been found out and she hated him getting an upper hand. She snatched the book away from her face then and shot up, her eyes coming straight into contact with his. They were barely raised up from the cart of books he was looking at, but they were there; a twinge of grey with a curve of his mouth to match. She marched out in quite the strut, making the smallest of scenes for the person she was furious over.

…

Draco noticed her the minute she had come down the stairs. He had known it was her by seeing the freckles on her shoulder through the shelves; they weren't that well stocked to be able to fully hide the pattern he had remembered seeing earlier in the coffee line. _I wish I didn't remember however,_ he thought suddenly.

Speaking with the librarian had only been to see if she would come down. He wanted to prove it was her. He hadn't expected to shock her so much by actually showing interest in what a library had to offer. She must not have seen many guys here or at least, not the right ones anyway. It was such a rush to make her angry, especially when she thought he was doing so by pure accident.

From that second on, when she snatched a book up in front of her face to spy on him, he played up the librarian. She was more than happy to see such a lovely, young gentlemen interested in poetry. He could have sworn he almost heard the girl behind the book click her tongue upon his mention to the librarian of just how much girls appreciated his love of poetry. He had to admit, he kind of hoped she had clicked her tongue, if only to prove he was the one making her angry.

Finally, when he had heard her sigh rather loudly, he glanced up to look her right in the eyes for only a second. She was giving him a dangerous glare, her dark brown eyes reflected in his light ones. His lips curled up the slightest bit and she lost it. He cast his eyes up quickly to catch her leaving; she dragged her bag behind her in a whirlwind of fury and she paraded right through the large doors. A student practically jumped out of her way on the sidewalk and she turned the corner, gone.

He smiled to himself, satisfied. With one last pass of the books with his hand, he selected a small volume to his liking. He exited the library in a slow, bouncing sort of gait. _Wait until I tell Blaise…_

…

She entered the apartment a rush, color on her cheeks and her jaw set. She threw her bag down on a stool by the counter and it slid off into a heap on the floor. Kicking it, Hermione huffed in irritation at her most recent encounter at the library. She felt like she'd been kicked in the head; too many crazy things were going on. One minute he was blowing up in her face over a spilled drink, next he is chatting up a librarian, treating her like his own grandmother! _He's incorrigible!_

He had known the whole time that she was watching him, that much was clear from the look on his face alone! He had outsmarted her and it pissed her off completely. How could she have been so stupid as to follow him in there?! _Well, you didn't follow, he just happened to be in YOUR spot of all places and-_ It was true but that didn't stop her from watching him and his own discovery of her from her own carelessness.

"Whoa chica, what happened to you and who can I beat up for ya?" Erin called from the couch where a few maps were balanced around her. She was mapping out the local streets with statistics gathered for a research class. Four boxes of take-out were piled in the corner, one open and half eaten. She put her pen down when Hermione had busted in.

"Oh nothing, just it's been two weeks since that dreadful night and I can't seem to catch a break! He was in my spot Erin, my spot in the library! THE spot!" Hermione whined, grabbing a box. She immediately became frustrated with everything and flopped down on the arm chair opposite Erin, grabbed a fork and pushed around food aimlessly.

"You're kidding! By 'him' you mean that dick blonde from that first night? Holy hell, he leaves no room for romance does he?" Erin raised her eyebrows at Hermione.

"Stop! He is absolutely not interested in me he simply enjoys putting me in misery and being the biggest irritating little shit I've ever encountered!" huffed Hermione in protest. "There's nothing romantic about lashing out at someone any chance you get!"

"Tell me all about it then," Erin sighed, hoping the story wasn't long. When she had finished actually explaining what had happened between them Erin laughed in amusement.

"And what part of that story gave you such a comical ease, huh?" Hermione glared.

"Hermione relax, okay. I know you don't like him but you have to admit, it is quite funny. I can't believe you thought you were so well hidden, he could probably see between the shelves!" Erin giggled again. "He's probably just mad you aren't impressed by him you know. He's used to girls flocking him, the rich boy stereotype and all, and with the looks to go with it he's top of the list," Erin reminded her. Hermione closed her mouth, unable to counter Erin's logical explanation.

"He's upsetting your orderly, logical world it's hilarious, you must be going crazy! You really can only ignore him or shag him at this point. Either way you will have to stop talking about him. I hope that your mouth will be too full of his giant cock to talk actually, but you didn't hear me say it," Erin tossed a pillow at Hermione, who looked horrorstruck.

"You are the worst ever. I fucking hate him, I don't want to suck his cock, I want to bite it off that jerk! He's doing it to be a prick and get under my skin, not because I don't show him any regards!" She couldn't believe Erin; he didn't care if she noticed him, he said so himself.

"I'm just saying Hermione, you should open your eyes. You said it yourself he walks out of class like he owns the whole university," mentioned Erin.

"Alright fine. Nevermind then, I'll just take my sulking to my room thank you very much," Hermione said angrily, leaving her words to bite the air. She stalked to her room and shut the door, sliding to the floor. Her heartbeat was heavy in her chest with anger and she could feel the twinge of magic beginning to move through her veins. She had no idea why he made her just this angry, but something really got to her today and she hated it.

 _He's targeting me as a play thing, it's barbaric really!_ She thought, taking a few long breathes. Hermione was conflicted. Despite all the shit he had run her through, he had shown the slightest bit of tastefulness to her in the library today. With his calm grey eyes and small smile barely hanging on his mouth, she couldn't help but be frustrated! _He didn't deserve to have that kind of power over me, definitely not! I know his true colors, at least I thought I did._

It was actually logical the more she thought about Erin's comment. He had probably been taught to walk all over people since he could crawl. It was disgusting. She got up from her floor then, quickly yanked a towel from the hook on the wall before hopping in the shower. As she washed her hair the foam swirled down her body in a soothing way. She had to relax; her emotions were once again getting the better of her because of a stupid stint with a boy. _Ugh!_

But as she thought back to the events that occurred today she was still bitter. He was just so aggravating and it was becoming more evident that maybe he wasn't just looking for her to ogle at him. _Maybe,_ she thought, _he liked seeing me angry…_

She almost smacked herself on the face for thinking it. _What are you suggesting Hermione? That he's some kind of sadist, that's just wrong,_ she practically yelled at herself shutting off the water. She threw the curtain open letting the cold air smack against her skin. Relaxing sure would be easier if she just had some answers to her questions.

Grabbing her towel and roughly drying her body she hated how he made her feel. All that soap and he was still under her skin, lying there waiting for the perfect time to finally make her snap. Well, if that was the game that he wanted to play she sure would be ready for him, she decided then. _I'm won't give him the time of day next time and he'll throw a tantrum like a child and then we'll see who's laughing!_ She wrapped the towel around her still damp body and headed out into her room, hoping she'd be able to fight back when the time came.

…

Walking in the front door with a swing in his step, Draco made a show of his entrance. "Oh hello there Blaise, didn't see you there, must have dropped my keys," he said, tossing them on the ground to make more noise.

Blaise sat in the sitting room at the dark wooden desk in the corner. He narrowed his eyes, unhappy to be so unnecessarily disturbed.

"Well that's no face to give your best of friends when he tried so hard to be good little pureblood for you today!" Draco hopped over the couch and laid down, flipping the book in his hands. The sarcasm leaking from his mouth was enough for Blaise to know he wasn't going to like what he heard.

"Well you're in too good of a mood to not be lying, so what did you do?" Blaise set his quill down.

"Well, well, well, you are in for a treat Blaise, I was in the library today and you'll NEVER guess what happened…" Draco's smile was curled evilly on his cheeks and Blaise immediately regretted asking.

…

Hermione busied herself with cleaning her room after her shower. Her room didn't actually need much tidying but it was a good distraction before Ginny and Luna showed up. She had almost forgotten they were coming over with all the chaos of the last few hours still not leaving her at peace. She had met Ginny two more times already, once for coffee again and another for a first look study session that Hermione organized of course.

Hermione had invited both girls over tonight so they could all unwind from the first two week's woes the best way college kids know how: underage drinking at a house party. Ginny had brought Luna to coffee last time, so Hermione could meet her as well. Luna was quite the unique young woman. Her long blonde hair glistened even when the sun went down and she sat up straight, lolling her head from side to side every so often like she were in a daydream for a little while.

But she was kind and smart, and Hermione enjoyed the new girl's interesting, light attitude towards life. She was odd, but that suited Hermione just fine. When you accepted others weird qualities it made being friends that much easier.

As she roughly folded laundry she wondered whether the girls had anything interesting to share. Although they felt like they had known each other for weeks already, Hermione actually found herself quite lost sometimes. Ginny and Luna made some rather peculiar comments occasionally, about their past school or home life, and Hermione was ever curious to know more. She knew only snippets of Ginny's brothers, there were 6 of them, right? Maybe 5… and Luna only had her dad, a journalist. She was hopeful that he could get Hermione an internship before Ginny mentioned it was in another country. Weird. And then there was Ginny's mysteriously amazing boyfriend, she loved to talk about him it was the cutest thing; for such a young girl she sure was wholeheartedly in love.

The faint noise of the intercom buzzed from the living room and Hermione heard Erin get up, open the front door, and holler at the girls as they came up the stairs. In a matter a minutes Ginny walked in like she owned the place.

"This is pretty sick, the dorms are nothing compared to this," Ginny raved, flopping down on the couch and making herself comfortable. Erin had moved her papers to the coffee table and, after locking the front door behind them, she sprawled out on the floor to continue organizing. Luna wandered in a little behind Ginny, said hi to Erin, and sat on the floor as well.

"Glad you like place, it's so unique really and I couldn't ask for better company," she winked at Hermione. Hermione was still a little ticked at Erin from before, so she stuck out her tongue.

"I love how far you can see from up here, it's like I'm watching these people as if they were bugs," Luna mentioned, not peeling her eyes away from the busy sidewalk below.

"Yeah, my dad got a pretty good deal on it too. A sister branch of his dentist's office is located on the ground floor as you came up," Hermione said. Half the reason she went to this college actually, she thought. The apartment had come unfurnished but it was about $100 cheaper than what she expected to pay, so she didn't complain.

"Anyway, how's classes guys, are you getting a lot of reading? I forgot what you said you're both taking," Hermione asked, still a little foggy from her shower. She figured if she put all her effort into really getting to know these girls, maybe she could forget the ill fortune she had earlier.

"Well I'm fascinated by my biology course. It's about all these wonderful creatures. Just by glancing through the textbook I've learned a lot," Luna told Hermione. It seemed odd that she was so fascinated; Hermione had heard the intro bio course was fairly difficult, but Luna seemed bright and her interest in the course would help her do well in it.

"That sounds nice. I never did take my science course yet. Even though I'm an English major you still need to take at least one, so I think I'm going to hold out for an astronomy course. The seats fill up fast for it, so hopefully next year when I'm a senior I can get into it more easily," Hermione explained to the girls.

"No, definitely not. You don't want to do Astronomy. I took it at Hog- our old school, and it was torture. Star charts and planet alignments, it gets so confusing. I think I made up some constellations on the last one!"

"You took it where?" Erin asked then, catching Ginny stumbling on her words.

"Oh, um I said 'Hog,' it's a nickname we had for the building with uh, the astronomy rooms. Don't know where it came from really," Ginny said smiling in a very convincing matter. Erin shrugged and 'okay' and went back to measuring lines.

"Oh! I had no idea! But I've always loved stars…" Disappointment was evident in Hermione's voice, but now she felt obligated to try it. She always liked a challenge and if it really was as difficult as Ginny said, she'd be thrilled. When she turned back to the girls they were laughing over something Hermione hadn't heard. "What's so funny?"  
Between laughs Ginny was able to speak, "I remember once, for the exam, I didn't study at all. I had too many rolls- I mean pages to write on another paper. I had to write what the constellations meant, their origins and such. I just remember there was one called 'Draconis' and there was a kid that we all knew that was such a little prick, right? So I just described him as some animal that got the shit kicked out of him and thrown into the sky and I got full points!" she laughed at her own brilliance and Luna couldn't stifle a chuckle either.

"It was quite brilliant on your part, Gin," Luna said between giggles.

"I don't know what's worst, the fact you didn't study or that this kid's parents named him after a fucked up constellation," Hermione stated, and it only led to more laughter.

"Well, if you knew him you wouldn't feel bad for him, it's fine," Ginny said, looking at Luna knowingly. She nodded in agreement. The girls talked some more about catching a break in other schoolwork by sheer luck. Hermione listened along and laughed when her new friends caught a fast break, but she couldn't help but think back on the constellation. It almost seemed familiar…

Coming back to the conversation in front of her, Luna was just finishing telling how she had stayed up all night to finish a paper only to discover it was for the wrong topic. She was sad but she showed the teacher anyway and he ended up commending her for her hard work outside the box.

"Well it was Flitwick, it's not like he could dislike you Luna, you were the best in your- major," Ginny said.

"There you go again, slipping on your words. You haven't had anything to drink yet, you sure?" Erin laughed at Ginny and Ginny made a pass at her with a light fist.

"Maybe, we need to get _everybody_ something, instead!" Hermione hopped up then and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a large pitcher of what looked like lemonade from the fridge.

"So, what else, what's your favorite so far?" Hermione asked, pouring four glasses full.

"Well, we're both in a creative writing course and this exercise class where you learn about all these different sports; it's really neat actually," Luna said, turning to Hermione.

"Yeah, and the professor is this burly lady, real muscular sort. She asked me why I wasn't on the softball team. I tossed a ball and the boy that was supposed to catch it fell backwards. It was so funny, she asked if I always throw balls like that," Ginny said. Hermione knew she must have been an athlete at one point recently, and she wondered why she hadn't decided to join any team or at least club sport.

"Did you reply to her?" Hermione asked.

"I told her I have balls hard as rocks," stated Ginny simply, like it was an obviously normal reaction. "And that I don't usually throw them." Both Luna and Hermione couldn't hold back laughter at the might of their friend. Hermione was beginning to really like her. _What spunk! She's a little unorthodox but in such a charming way._

"Ha! Are you talking about Ms. Crendal? Oh man, Hermione remember when I tried to get away without taking any tests with her? She hated me," Erin said.

"Oh my God, yes! She's always been so pushy if you show even the slightest bit of athletic talent!" responded Hermione, walking back into the room carrying cups for everyone.

"I'm glad you gave her hell though," Erin said to Ginny, "Man, Hermione I think I'm going to really like this one." She pointed to the redhead who once again made to smack Erin on the shoulder. She laughed as she dodged it and went back to her work.

"Ginny did you play any sports before coming here then? You must have for Crendal to notice you," Hermione asked.

"Um yeah, but it was just with some friends nothing serious," stated Ginny.

"She played baseball. We had a little tournament every year between the dorms. Ginny was good!" Luna said, as if it was obvious that Ginny were covering up her accomplishments. But Luna wasn't telling the truth completely; while Ginny had been on a sports team at Hogwarts but it was far from baseball, but it was the only one she knew well enough.

Luna had gone to muggle schooling up until she was sixteen, taking summer schooling on vacation time away from Hogwarts. Her mother had wanted their child to grow up with a good sense of the two worlds that existed so her dad made sure to send her every summer. Now, it had actually come in handy as they had to transition quick to muggle life here.

"What's this baseba-" Ginny started to say, a look of confusion on her face. But Luna looked at her sharply, hoping it would keep Ginny quiet. Being in hiding here was certainly much harder for the traditional wizarding upbringing that Ginny had. She didn't fit in quite as well and kept forgetting that there were things she couldn't say or talk about.

"What did you say Ginny, I'm sorry I didn't catch that last bit besides baseball," Hermione said, having just come into the living room with the rest of the cups she couldn't carry the first time. She sat down opposite Ginny on the arm chair and stirred the ice in her glass with her finger. She curled her legs up next to her like a cat, comfortably taking a large sip of her drink.  
"Whoa-a-a," Ginny stated upon taking a gulp of hers. "I was not expecting that but that is much better than-" She paused for a second, Luna looking at her again. "Than the _beer_ we used to drink at school?" It came out as kind of a question and Hermione looked confused, but figured it was nothing to think too hard on. It was time for them to loosen up and let go, to hell with word slips, libraries, and disturbed boys.

"You sure you've had nothing before this?" Hermione laughed. "I'm glad you like it. There's plenty to get us through the night so drink up," Hermione smiled encouragingly.

Forty five minutes later, Erin gathered up her schoolwork and headed to her room. She came back in in a whirlwind of denim and feathers. She dramatically threw off her jean jacket like she was having heat exhaustion and in the process removed a few feathers from the tribal headband she was sporting on her short black hair.

"Okay bitches one and all, it's fucking hot out for fall, like what the hell. So we better get everyone dressed appropriately," Erin said loudly. "You two being fresh meat and all, we have to make sure you fit in, so you'll be wearing something slutty. Whoops I mean, freshmen! I'm only kidding, please don't look at me like that."

The girls looked slightly taken back; Erin had only made a few comments during their first hour here, so this new version of her was a lot to take in. Realizing she never really introduced the girls to Erin, she figured now was as good a time as any.

"Oh how terribly rude of me, I never introduced you guys to this gem of a roommate I have. Ginny, Luna: meet the charming Miss. Erin Carthridge all the way from the sunny part of the states. Clad in her evening's best, denim and dead animals," Hermione said formally trying to not to laugh.

Erin hated it when Hermione pointed out she wasn't from the same continent as them. It didn't matter but it did rile her up. The next second when Erin spoke, she was sporting a very husky fake British accent. "Well my dearies, I must really be off! I need to find a suitable outfit to wear to the ball tonight!" She ran off to her room then, closing the door.

They all laughed in her wake and Ginny looked at Hermione smiling. "She's hilarious!"

"Oh, she definitely is. Now come on, you must help me pick out something to wear!" Hermione said, leading them to her room.

…

"Well this is simply darling," Luna's lofty voice said when they entered. It was a decent size and Hermione took the time to put up a large sticker on the wall of a giant arching tree that took up half the room in the corner where her bed was.

"Thank you, I picked everything out myself," Hermione said fondly, looking around.

"At our old school, we shared a dormitory with 8 other girls. You keep your room for your whole stay there, it was pretty neat," mentioned Luna.

"Please, tell me more," Hermione asked nicely. She loved hearing how different their school was in Scotland. She didn't know much about it yet, but it seemed so interesting because if it's vast differences from other universities she'd heard about, not to mention their own.

"We had these huge beds, ugh I miss them!" Ginny stated, laying down on Hermione's. "They were giant four posters, with maroon and gold sheets. At least the colors here are about the same, silver instead of gold, but that's okay. And we were the lions too, so we can still wear some of our old stuff," Ginny explained, pointing to Luna's maroon jumper that had a brilliant lion embroidered on the front.

"Oh! I thought you got that at the bookstore, I was going to ask you!" Hermione said shocked. She had really liked it too and hoped to get her own. The girls were already on their second glass of the spiked lemonade Hermione had made, and it felt good to be able to relax with her new friends.

"Yeah, we had similar colors and mascot. But there were four divisions within our school too and we were just one of the four," Luna said. "I guess you could say they were for different types of learning. You got placed based on a test at the beginning of the year." She mentioned this last bit to convince Hermione. Ginny and Luna exchanged glances when Hermione was looking in her closet, no doubt about the random explanation about the housing system that Luna was making up on the spot.

"Yeah, it's neat. I feel like you would have loved it, seeing as how you're so smart. I've seen you do work faster than anyone I've ever known and I've only had two study sessions with you!" Ginny confessed, looking at Hermione with respect.

"Well thanks, I kind of pride myself on my schoolwork. I got really into it back when I was younger because, to be honest, I didn't have many friends," said Hermione quietly. She wasn't sure they were ready to hear her story and didn't want to bore them with how she didn't fit in anywhere. _What am I, a little kid who got picked last and now I'm going to whine about it? Nah._

"Oh, that's not okay. Come on, tell us," Ginny chided, getting up to help her search for something to wear.

"Oh, alright…" Hermione went on to detail her childhood, leaving out the weird magic stuff. That was private for obvious reasons. But they seemed sympathetic and told stories of their own annoying childhoods. Maybe it was the addition of a third glass of alcohol, but the girls found it easy to talk to one another, even about stuff that seemed too personal for how fresh their friendship was. But it made Hermione happy.

She found out Ginny was the only girl in a family too crowded, which was why she was so rough and tough. She had to be in order to prove herself in this world. Luna had struggled making friends all her life, what with her sometimes peculiar interest in certain hobbies with her father willing to run stories no one else wrote about. But he wrote to be just and unbiased; Hermione respected that greatly. They got a lot of backlash from the public and various groups that made having a normal life difficult.

In two hours' time the girls were almost drunk, not sure if they really wanted to go out or not. But soon Erin came in and wouldn't let them stay there reveling in past stories. Hermione was happy they were closer from sharing so many stories, good and bad, but now it was time to make some memories together.

They climbed down the stairs in a giggling stumble and Hermione was the last one to leave. As she closed the door she smiled at her new friends, laughing along with Erin. _This is going to be great_ , Hermione thought to herself and she waved her hand to lock the door before she descended the steps to join her friends for the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.** ** _"_**

 **Here's the prompt I worked off of (again, I don't own the prompt, thx to whoever does):**

 ** _A modern AU where Hermione never got her letter._**

 ** _Hermione Granger had always been odd. Terribly brilliant and scathingly ruthless, her perception of the world had made her the object of schoolyard jests, her peers doling out punishment by virtue of her strangeness, children terrifying in the dangerous manner only children are capable of. And so alone in her room, she made her dolls move by her will. That was years ago._**

 ** _Now all grown up, she becomes, almost obsessively, determined to prove that more than will, magic reinforced her spine. And by God, if there's a whole different world out there, Hermione will be part of it - even if she has to claw her way in._**

 ** _So when a pretty boy shows up, all sharp lines, and light hair, and the snark of old rich, she is drawn to him and the mark on his arm. He is well-versed in manipulation and the sorcery of the dark, and when he offers her a hand to beckon her come, she takes it."_**

 ** _1/20/2016: *Update* this chapter has since been updated with a minor edit to fix confusing wording of a bet. thanks and enjoy!_**

Draco rolled over in bed, groaning at having to get up before he wanted. They were late to class for the fourth straight day in a row, and this time Draco hadn't even bothered to try to hurry. Blaise had yelled for ten minutes straight to wake him. Draco hadn't found it worth his time and when Blaise had finally managed to undo the three Protego charms Draco had set to lock his bedroom with last night, he was not happy.

When they got outside, Draco's mood was as gloomy as the gray October clouds smothering the skies. It reflected the headache he felt from a recent night staying up drinking at some muggle party that had turned out be quite the night.

"Hurry up, we are already missing most of class, the least you could do is move a little faster than a fucking Cornish pixie! I know you're potentially still hammered, but you could at least make some sort of noise to let me know you hear me," Blaise said as they made their way down the sidewalk. His haughty attitude did nothing to make Draco's hangover better.

It had been a month of this muggle bullshit and Draco still wasn't used to it. Classes had seemed so much better managed and organized at Hogwarts and so had their free time. The only thing it seemed like he did now was drink copious amounts of alcohol to make life less boring. Blaise had continuously brought up Draco's need to accept the muggle life and the muggles themselves because he knew Draco's upbringing, along with his stubbornness, was going to be a struggle to overcome.

But now he seemed to fit in with at least half the kids he sat in class with, barely paying attention and hungover, much more concerned with their own mental state to care about literary devices, formulas, and essays. He hated admitting he was like them… _I guess drinking away your problems is a universal thing,_ Draco thought.

His interactions with muggles were now tolerable despite being based exclusively on forced encounters in class and making small talk at parties. He wasn't cruel to their faces, just indifferent; he didn't want to succumb to violence and abuse the way his father did. He didn't believe that solely being a muggle made you a target for that kind of stuff, but that didn't mean he had to play completely nice either. If someone was being a dumbass he was going to say something, let his sarcasm take them down, muggle or not.

"You look like hell by the way, maybe you want to take a night off the social scene, huh?" Blaise said, spite in his eyes. He was walking too swiftly to see Draco hold up his middle finger.

"At least I had a night of enjoyment," he countered, "unlike you. All you do is study, Merlin knows why when it's muggle shit we don't even need," Draco accused, his voice cold.

"What is in a night of enjoyment for you now that we are here Drake? Do you still try to see which girls are the most fuckable and get the winner to go home with you? Seems like that game would be awfully difficult now, no one's your type despite the amount of females flocking all over you at every party," Blaise stated the obvious observations for Draco to see. He waited with a smirk for Draco's response.

Draco paused, unsure how to approach the question. Muggle girls seemed to be mesmerized by him as he passed in the quad and when he showed up at parties, he wasn't blind. He could easily have landed one at the party or elsewhere for that matter. But he also didn't want Blaise thinking the wrong thing; mindlessly leading on muggle girls just to get a rise out of them and flatter his own too big ego was completely different than sleeping with them. _Right?_ He shook the thought away. _Right. Completely different._

"Just because I used to do that doesn't mean I've stopped," Draco said. "The fact that they are girls in nearly nothing strutting around at these parties is something I find hard to ignore."

"Well, well, what have we here? Has Draco Malfoy finally gone soft for muggles? Did you get with one yet don't lie, Theo will tell me if I ask him, he probably saw everything!" Blaise asked cheerfully, feeling Draco's temper rise.

"That's not what I meant at all, you prat," stated Draco. He didn't like when people twisted his words. "But you know I can't pass up a good looking girl giving me an eye Blaise, it's torture not having even Pansy here to fuck okay," Draco admitted, his headache still pounding. Aggravation was fresh on his face as they hurried along past the bus stop. They were going to have to walk the whole way having missed the bus by half an hour.

Draco's frustration with his dry spell was getting to him the more he thought about Blaise's accusations. Only a month into school and he felt like a caged rabbit; he just wanted that release but there was no one worth it to satisfy him. Bored at parties or in line for the café Draco had begun making a sort of game out of mindlessly leading on plenty of muggle girls. It was the only way he felt a little better about his situation. He was reminded of walking the halls in Hogwarts like royalty. Hogwarts was so much better than this. He missed it.

And at Hogwarts the girls had been witches. Despite the occasional muggleborn, Hogwarts was mostly purebloods and half-bloods, and even so, Draco seemed to attract purebloods. His father had him memorize bloodlines from a young age, he knew everyone's at Hogwarts before he started his first year. Made it easy to pick the girls to fool around with.

But now he was amongst all muggles. He was unable to pass up that same opportunity to make a girl go crazy for him. He still hadn't gone as far as sleep with one, but the more time he spent drinking and hanging around with them the more he found that they weren't exactly as different or disgusting or as seemingly inferior as his father always claimed all his childhood. It was a harsh reality he was starting to see and maybe that accounted for the amount he was drinking these days.

He still didn't want to let go of old values, it felt like deserting his family and they still loved him, at least his mother probably still did. And he couldn't seem to really give up on her. But he had run away. He had left; ran from his problems, ran from his family. Surely they were going to disown him regardless of his choice of partner. Still something kept him from fully disregarding all his upbringing. It would be the biggest "fuck you" he could give to his parents.

As his thoughts mixed around in an uncomfortable swell of annoyance, he spoke trying to further justify himself. "Blaise I want nothing more than to satisfy my own male callings. I want that blonde witch with the huge tits from the Harpies, naked feeding me pineapple for the rest of my days, but we can't always get what we want mate, so shut up I don't want to have a row about muggle sluts this early in the morning." He thought in irritation of the know-it-all bitch from that first night; he'd never had someone attack him quite like she had. Maybe that's why he was still on the fence; she'd ruined muggle girls for him.

"Well, if you can call them sluts, I don't get what's so wrong with sleeping with them. Last I checked, your bedroom partners aren't always on the list mommy and daddy would approve of," Blaise pointed out.

"Yes but they're in the proper category," Draco replied, malice in his voice. "They're _magical."_

"True, but you were bound to end up with at least a half-blood at some point. You're not always as careful as you think you are. Nothing will happen to you, I've already proven that was a false fact from the depths of some deep fucked up family tradition," Blaise said. "Besides, you already ran away, it's not like you can't fuck up any more than you already have."

"I would let the most dirty blooded muggle girl deep throat my cock in front of my father if it meant I didn't have to listen to your voice ever again, you piece of Merlin's sagging bollocks," Draco said, his temper peaking. He didn't want to listen to this. _Wasn't getting mutually, dangerously intoxicated together with muggles enough? It's way too early for death eater slash right now…_ A tiny twinge of pain shot down his left arm.

Blaise choked up at Draco's words. "I'd pay you money to see that happen and Merlin knows the amount of times I've had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing you at it for free," Blaise stated. Draco scowled, hurt. "You're scared, just admit it. Scared to realize you don't have to listen to what mommy and daddy say 24/7. Scared of the death eaters finding us. Scared of muggle girls that are nothing more than sluts as you so eloquently put it."

Draco removed his sunglasses, revealing bloodshot eyes. He looked back at Blaise, his anger thick in his voice. "I don't get scared. Concerned yes. Confused, kind of. But that's beside the point."

"So then if they're sluts and you're not scared, what the fuck do you got to lose? Besides a literal fuck," Blaise said the phrase but it took Draco a second to really come up with a good answer. When he finally gave a disgruntled shrug instead of answering, Blaise snickered.

"So then, how about a gamble Drake. You know you can't resist. If you, by some crazy, bizarre turn of events, do end up sleeping with some muggle slut I'll reward you," Blaise said. He hoped Draco would take the bargain, especially when he revealed a worthy prize.

Draco finally lifted his head and looked Blaise in the eye. "A reward? What could you possibly offer me of all people? I don't want money that's not an issue when you're raised in a house of conniving politicians," stated Draco like he were growing bored. "And why a reward?" There were family accounts his father never checked and never noticed Draco managed to sign over the shares to himself. It had been too easy. But he didn't know where Blaise was going with the "why" aspect of this bet and he was sure he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Well for starters I think you'd only truly sleep with a muggle if you actually start changing your beliefs on blood purity and finally get rid of all that garbage that's been rotting your brain since childhood. I've gotten rid of it and look how perfectly normal and happy I am?" giving himself as an example didn't seem to make any difference to Draco, who just narrowed his gaze at Blaise's words.

"'Happy' is a loose term; were in hiding and completely cut off from the wizarding world don't forget," he managed before Blaise spoke again.

"I know you too well Draco. You won't commit to anything that doesn't have an easy escape or a way to manipulate the outcome to your own desires. But fooling around with muggles will take more guts than you're willing to admit and it does scare you. It has to." Blaise paused, chancing a glance at Draco who had gone silent. Draco's jaw was set hard and his hair continued to move jaggedly in the wind.

"You are still hung up on family misconceptions. It's not easy to get rid of especially in your case. But I think you can prove yourself wrong you just need something you'd actually try hard to get back," Blaise said and as he looked down Draco followed his gaze. He flashed the red wooden handle of his own wand from under his coat sleeve. Draco almost stopped walking.

"Do you mean-?" Draco searched his jacket pockets frantically then, obviously just now realizing his missing wand. "You jackass. How did you manage to do that? Give it here."

"How do you manage to go so many places without it?" Blaise countered, but Draco merely flicked two of his fingers before Blaise's backpack split, sending notebooks to the ground. As Draco snickered Blaise bent to gather the books, looking both ways down the street before taking out his own wand to clean the mess up.

"It's just a safety precaution. You might be good at wandless but you can't do anything more powerful than second level spells so at least I can sleep easier," Blaise was stern, he wanted this to go through because getting his wand back would be a decent motivating factor to get Draco to actually start thinking about the bigger picture of blood purities and war. At least, Blaise hoped it would.

Draco paused thinking. He didn't want to admit Blaise had been correct in all his assumptions. Draco was scared and wrapped tightly in the bonds of Malfoy tradition. Values engrained from childhood don't just disappear when you decide to leave.

Draco tried to think logically; he could be convincing enough in this bet and get his wand. There were options, the Confundus Charm, faking it with Pansy, faking it with an actual muggle, modifying Blaise's memory…

He saw Blaise's outstretched hand and decided then; maybe these odds could work out for him. Worried thoughts of family and blood status floated back to his mind and he shook his head, hoping to forget them. He spoke just as he reached for Blaise's hand.

"Are you sure you want to make a bet with an ex-death eater?" Draco snarled as they joined hands. "Not the smartest person to make deals with."

"You did say 'ex' right? That's a step in the right direction," Blaise said and he began to run before Draco could slug him.

…

September went by in a whiplash of assignments, hang outs, drinking, and a few late night study sessions that Hermione wouldn't let Ginny sleep through. Despite Hermione's best efforts Ginny wasn't making significant progress in any of her classes; while she did like to learn it was not in the conventional way that Hermione was so desperate to instill. Hermione really had to help her extensively with some of her material, but it only made Hermione happy to be useful. She held their study sessions in the west end of the library, not daring to get close to the East Wing or her secret spot since the first week. _Best to just avoid problems, avoid him…_

The girls had become much closer over the last month, finding time to hang out almost every other day it seemed. Their friendship felt like hers and Erin's; it was easy and fun and witty and comfortable even. Hermione couldn't remember ever feeling this comfortable and like she belonged before. Her good mood was much more prominent than ever.

As she sat in Sterns' class that first Friday of October she sipped her coffee in delight. Sterns was mentioning how he would be handing back the first papers to be revised as necessary for the next week. It was only a two page response but Hermione had spent all week in her office after class grading them. She hadn't seen _his_ amongst the names of student responses she had; maybe Sterns had the pleasure of running his red pen all over it.

She hadn't forgotten her anger for the pretentious blonde, but it was easier to deal with now. As she glanced to her right to see if he had decided to grace them with his presence today, she saw an empty seat yet again and was satisfied. It was becoming more and more frequent that he skipped Sterns' class altogether and that was just fine by her. It was another day she wouldn't have to be bothered by knowing he was sitting there casually not paying any attention.

He hadn't even noticed her in the class yet. _It's been a month and he does nothing but see how far he can get with bugging that blonde in front of him. How distasteful, this is class time not mating time,_ she remarked to herself. Okay, so maybe she still thought about him occasionally. Since Blaise knew she was in the class, she figured he told his friend she was there. Maybe that's why he skipped class so much. Or maybe to save both of them Blaise kept his mouth shut. Either way Hermione was glad she hadn't had to encounter the bastard yet in quite some time. The time in the library was more than enough.

She focused once again on what Sterns was saying, turning back to the front of the class. Blaise wasn't here either, but she wasn't too worried. She had read his piece and, while there was still lots of room for improvement, she liked that he actually gave a shit. But it was then that Sterns motioned to her sitting in the corner and she gave a smile.

"And this charming young lady here will be your demise. Class, take a look now and get familiar with her. I suggest you take a look at the syllabus to find out Hermione's office hours as you must go visit her to discuss your response. I have marked the questions I believe she is capable of helping you expand on. Pick one. The grading scale is also on the syllabus, learn it. We will compare your performance on both the paper and the type of discussion you can build with her," he stated as if he were writing away some of these kids with a death sentence, fulfilled only in her office. "I've only ever let one person not have to go through a discussion, and that was when Hermione took this class herself. Be prepared."

People looked at her almost scared and Hermione was surprised at the power placed in her hands. It made her smirk thinking some people might actually be fearful to come visit her and she loved hearing Sterns praise her own work. She had stayed up two nights straight with some Adderall and black coffee to earn that 'no discussion' on her paper. She couldn't have been prouder.

 _This is going to be a fun week_ , she thought excitedly. She could really help out some students and that made her happy. Maybe she'd luck out and have some students who were equally as ambitious as she was last year. Although, her mind quickly shot back to the empty seats in the back of the class; her anger sparked a bit as she realized they would both have to come to her office hours too.

 _This is going to be just awful! I've avoided him for weeks and now I'll have to be alone with him in MY office! Ugh!_ She almost couldn't believe her stupidity of not realizing this problem sooner. Could she talk to Sterns and tell him or would that be too childish? While Blaise was mostly harmless she wasn't sure she was ready for another one on one with his friend.

 _No, that's not okay, this is college not preschool,_ she thought. She sipped her coffee some more, trying to think of a logical way to handle this. She hoped maybe she'd luck out and he wouldn't show to his meeting; he didn't frequent class so why would he be in any hurry to go out of his way to her office hours? It was her only hope at this point. She sighed heavily to herself and looked back at Sterns.

"Don't be fooled now, by her smile and courtesies," Sterns looked at her with a knowing smile. He held up a finger as people were packing up their bags; class was almost over but he wanted them to hear him. "I've read her work, I know what she's capable of. Be careful playing with fire." He looked at Hermione then and raised an eyebrow.

"Get your papers before you leave, class dismissed." Hermione nodded at him. He turned to leave, handing a stack of papers to a girl sitting in the first row. Hermione stood quickly and stepped up on her chair to get everyone's attention.

"Oi!" she yelled, before they really started bustling about. "I have last names R-Z, she has A-Q. Red pen is Sterns, green pen is me. Some of you got the pleasure of both of us grading. Hope it's not too terrible," she smiled about to step down. "Oh, and there's a signup sheet outside my office in Roost Tower, seventh floor. Find it by Tuesday."

She hopped down then, the students starting to break apart into groups to get their papers, many lining up right in front of her. She sifted through the pile on her table as students began approaching her. Each time a student told her their name, she found it and the crowd began to diminish. The girl across the room hurried over to Hermione after five minutes and gave her the rest of the papers no one claimed from Sterns' pile. She knew there would be stragglers so she waited ten more minutes before leaving.

The hall was almost empty when the door swung open again. A girl was getting her paper from Hermione at the moment, but when she glanced to see who came in, her eyes fell upon Blaise. He came down the stairs two at a time, looking flustered but as handsome as ever. He stopped just a few steps behind the girl to give them privacy and smiled.

The girl asked once more which floor Hermione's office was on and how many times they could meet before she left. Hermione looked at the five papers she had left and spotted one with Blaise's name in very cubic handwriting on the top. She grabbed it and handed it to him.

"Hi there," she said, "a little late aren't we? This is yours I believe."

"Ah, hello there. Well as you're probably aware more so than most people, since you've had the lovely opportunity to speak to him yourself, my friend is not the easiest person to motivate to come to class, which results in my own tardiness on several occasions. Do you happen to have his paper as well?"

Hermione rolled her eyes dramatically. "You know, I'm not even surprised really. You shouldn't let him control you like that," she said. "What's his name again?"

"Malfoy. And I like to think I control him most of the time, yet I have never quite been able to stop him completely. Especially from loitering in public libraries," Blaise smirked as Hermione whipped around, disregarding the papers.

"He told you about-?" she couldn't even finish her sentence, she was so angry. He had probably gone home that night and bragged to Blaise about catching her spying on him. He probably ate it up. Ugh! She crossed her arms, practically stomping her foot.

"Yes, he was more than giddy to brag about annoying you, who wouldn't?" Blaise complimented her in a backwards way and she wasn't amused. She took a few moments to collect her thoughts, wanting to make sure Blaise would want to tell Malfoy all about this encounter.

She turned around and continued looking through the papers. Most were typed but, similar to Blaise's, she found another handwritten one. It was a single, smaller sheet of brown parchment. Hermione found it odd, knowing sure well that the printers on campus did not spit out paper like this. On the top, a fancy scrawl of the letters spelled out his name. "Can he get any more of an ego, honestly?" she fumed, handing Blaise the small piece of paper.

Blaise chuckled at her and took it with wide eyes. "You should see him in private."

"I'll pass, thank you very much. I have to get to this meeting but make sure you sign up for a discussion time outside my office, it's in Roost Tower. It's basically required since it is part of your grade but if your friend even decides he wants help from me tell him to save his time. I would do anything to make sure he failed, I have that power, so" she said sharply, shouldering her bag.

"Oh he won't care about failing, trust me, he's a lot smarter than you're giving him credit for. He'll find a way to turn any grade into an A. However, I won't mind visiting you," Blaise said, hoping to impress. But she wasn't in any mood for his flattery and she stayed silent. She merely gave a look of disinterest before climbing the stairs.

Blaise looked annoyed, "Or maybe I'll bring him with me."

Blaise's words reached her as she reached for the handle to the door. Her anger quickly rose; _so much for the better the two, eh?_ She decided she would only warn them once, she was done dealing with these two sketchy boys ruining her academic accolades.

"Well," she mused, remembering Sterns' closing remarks, "please know, it's a dangerous thing to play with fire and I'm sure he doesn't want to get burned again. Same goes for you." Her voice was thick with intimidation as it echoed through the empty lecture hall. She turned on her heel and left, a tiny smile on her lips as she heard Blaise's laughter fill the room behind her.

…

When Blaise started to run to make it to the last minutes of Sterns' class Draco had laughed. He didn't feel nearly well enough to keep up the pace for more than five minutes. If they were going to be late, he felt they might as well not go at all. He was in the middle of iterating that fact to Blaise when he slowed to a walk and Blaise continued on happily without him.

When Draco had finally reached campus, he grabbed a large, black coffee to fix his headache. He went out into the quad then choosing his favorite spot, the top of the large stone wall bordering the garden. As he lay there, a cool breeze came around his face and curled his hair. He shivered looking out into the courtyard. It was overcast and Friday, so there were few if any people about. He saw two boys walking at the far end of the quad and a girl just grabbing something to eat.

His eyes were closed and his hood up as he attempted to get rid of the dizziness that accompanied the half cup of coffee he already consumed. Before Blaise was out of sight he had mumbled something about at least getting their papers and Draco remembered the single paragraph he had written last week for the assignment. He had done so drunkenly late the night before it was due; it was far from his best work, but he didn't care. He was going to just fix his grade with magic later, if they even needed to. He wasn't sure how long they were going to be staying in hiding anyway…

From their conversation this morning Draco couldn't seem to stop himself from thinking of his family and what could possibly be happening right now in the wizarding world. He hoped his mother was managing to keep away from his father's violent outbursts; it was sad he hoped Voldemort was keeping his dad occupied with some vile task or another instead. But maybe that meant the war was closer than they even knew. He shook the thoughts that made him colder and scratched at his wrist.

 _And then there's this, I swear if they can trace this through all our wards and my magic on top of it we're screwed,_ he thought then, knowing what was lurking beneath the sleeve he rubbed at. It weighed in the back of his mind how much trouble they'd be in if his dark mark was re-activated. It had been very faint for some time and with all the heat back in September he'd been stuck with bandaging it up just so he could wear short sleeves.

The boys had been holding practice sessions with each other every other night or so, anything to keep at practice and be prepared for… for what? If anything came of the mark or if anyone found them, they were still runaways. He guessed those sessions would be difficult now with the bet in place; maybe Blaise would still let him use his wand for those?

He itched the covered mark again, like it had sensed he was thinking about it. _Fucking useless piece of shit. One tradition I wish I could have lived without…_ He thought of Lucius and Narcissa and his Aunt Bella, who never bothered to owl before she just showed up wreaking havoc. He thought of cold mornings in the Manor and always warm tea from house elves he'd been told he was only allowed to talk down to. He thought of muggles he'd seen in London or Paris or Denmark or Spain on family vacations. He had a vague feeling he hadn't been able to comprehend how they minded their own business when his father claimed the world hated them. The lectures on blood status had been never ending.

He began practicing a little wandless magic, feeling his stomach grow sick. Whether it was from the hangover or his thoughts on family values, he didn't want to know. The stone underneath his hand began to chip away at his light movements as he racked his brain for something better to think about…

 _I could probably convince Theo to confund a muggle or Blaise for that matter,_ he contemplated to himself, thinking back to the bet. _We could make a bit of show of it…_ It was a logical solution to getting his wand back and Theo always liked helping to cause trouble between Blaise and Draco. _But it'll have to be planned right. I wonder if Blaise would fall for something as innocent as a Confundus…_

Ten minutes later he spotted Blaise walking cheerfully towards him from the direction of Sterns' classroom. Draco just rolled his eyes. He didn't want to hear whatever shit Blaise had to say, especially if it was going to be full of smiles and schoolwork. When Blaise approached, he looked at the gouge marks in the stone under Draco's hand and frowned.

"Why did you even bother coming with me to school then if all you're going to do is vandalize it?" he asked.

"Don't you have some muggles to go foster or something?" Draco answered with another question, not warranting a real answer.

"No, but one in particular you might want to hear about," Blaise said but he stopped there waiting to see if Draco was interested in the story.

"I'm listening," Draco drawled, yet he sat up and took his hood off. He seemed annoyed still, but Blaise expected it and continued.

"Well, since you pay more attention to girls in Sterns' class than actual literature I assumed you already spotted her from day one. Guess not," Blaise mused.

"For Merlin's fucking sake, who did you see? I doubt I'll be as interested if you continue to drag this out for no reason," Draco sounded exasperated, unable to think of any muggle girl who he actually knew here that Blaise could be talking about. None came to mind.

"Your library friend of course, she's our teaching assistant. Sits in the back most days but Sterns only just mentioned her today." Blaise explained. "That's what she told me at least, before I got our papers," Blaise tried to hide his smile.

Draco's attention shot up. _That bitch from the first night? How had I not noticed her of all people_? But then again, with the amount of times he skipped the class and the rest given over to making that blonde chick in from of him swoon and pout, he hadn't really noticed much in that class. He'd read the book at least and he hadn't found it completely terrible.

"And what did the lovely bitch have to say, dare I ask?" sneered Draco, chugging his coffee down and crushing the cup easily. "Probably bitter over my lack of presence, I'm sure it's the highlight of her day when I show up."

"Ah vanity, thy name is Draco," Blaise joked. "It was lucky I caught her though, she had both our papers," he said handing Draco his. "Although, there is a catch. We have to go in and give an oral discussion to complete the grade."

Draco laughed instantly at the thought. "To hell with that, I'm not going in to see that old coot and hear him lecture me on _The Grand Gatsy_ , or whatever the fuck the book was called-"

"Oh you don't get to talk to Sterns and have him lecture you for hours, oh no. It's her we have the pleasure of meeting with," Blaise said looking smug. "And it's _The Great Gatsby_ you arse. Did you even open the book before writing that paper?"

"I read the whole thing actually and no doubt you're hoping that oral part of your grade is solved with her mouth," Draco sneered. "It's not like I'll actually go either way, they can't force me and even if they did I would just make her life hell again somehow, it could be fun actually." Draco's sneer turned into a vicious smile as he realized that this allowed for another opportunity to make her life miserable.

"No, they cannot force you but I'd think twice about the whole 'making her life hell' part if I were you," said Blaise.

"What do you mean, that's one of my favorite new games, making muggles mad. And since that time in the library I know she's one of the best players," Draco gave a wolfish grin, but Blaise cut in before he could elaborate further.

"Oh no, it's not that, with this bet I'll let you do as you please with muggles," Blaise snickered, "it's just, she threatened you before she left. All I'm saying is I wouldn't cross her if I were you, she was very serious and very angry."

"You're kidding!" Draco burst into a fit of laughs. Despite the fact they were muggle girls, Draco couldn't resist showing them up. And now, the one he really would love to make mad had made it easy by welcoming him to her door. At least that's how Draco took it.

"You can't be serious, she threatened me? How do you know it was me personally? She's a right bitch, she could just be pissy today," Draco asked.

"She said and I quote, 'it's a dangerous thing to play with fire and he doesn't want to get burned again.' I'm pretty sure she was talking about you. I'm actually nice to her."

Draco scoffed. "I highly doubt the few words you've had with her could be categorized as 'nice.' More like normal courtesies that you pay any person you don't know too well; we were raised by the same people remember?" Draco drawled. "But Merlin, she's practically begging me to come though Blaise, with that threat. You sure she was angry? She definitely is trying to get me to come to her," Draco stated, unable to contain his cockiness.

Draco took threats as challenges, which had only gotten him into trouble exactly twice now. Other times he managed to avoid trouble through crafty escapes, the right words, name dropping. Anything. So there seemed to be no reason to put down this challenge either, not when he knew exactly how stuck up of a bitch she had already been to him.

"Oh come on now, don't do that to her, she's been hurt enough from the likes of you on multiple occasions. Give it a rest please?" Blaise asked, suddenly worried he went about telling Draco the wrong way.

"Oh please, Blaise. I wouldn't do anything terrible, you know me. I'm a harmless pyromaniac," Draco said, his voice utterly sarcastic. His mind was working furiously as he hopped off the wall, feeling the coffee finally kicking in to rid his body of the alcohol.

"No jokes Drake if you do go, please try to be civil. You're sounding awfully scummy with your revenge and I don't want you regretting anything, she's a fighter," Blaise sighed, worried upon seeing the smirk still dancing on Draco's face. "Besides, I wouldn't mind being able to get a little closer with her, you know. Past those 'normal courtesies' you mentioned. She already associates us together, you're hurting my chances."

"Ha! I'm hurting your chances? You think she'd still be interested if she knew you were the son of someone who kills her kind for sport?" Draco hollered at Blaise as he started to walk down the path. Blaise looked annoyed to no end.

The words sounded awful saying it that way, but it was the truth. For both their fathers. Blaise was now regretting bringing this up to Draco at all. Draco continued talking, not bothering to wait for Blaise's response. "She'd probably start her own revolution to boot, what a fucking crazy bitch. Honestly Blaise, I've talked to her, get another brunette with nice legs to fuck," he said.

"So you admit she has nice legs?" Blaise responded, curiosity evident in his tone. Draco seemed reluctant to answer. "You're showing some weakness Drake."

Blaise laughed at Draco's incredulous snarl before it broke and he tried to respond. "For a muggle they're okay, yes. What's it to you? It's not weakness. I'm not completely fucked up, I can appreciate physically attractive traits even if they are on a muggle. I told you that earlier."

"That's quite the thing to admit you know," Blaise pointed out. Half the time Draco hated muggles and half the time he complimented them; it was frustrating being friends with Draco Malfoy, it really was. You never knew which side of him you'd get that day.

"Oh yeah? Then how about I win this bet of ours by sleeping with _her_? That's also quite the thing to admit," Draco said, the aggression distinct in his voice. He knew the idea would irritate his smitten friend and Blaise glared back. "Just to piss you off I could do that. Alas, I wouldn't but I could," Draco said.

"I highly doubt she would," Blaise said, his voice monotone with irritation. "She's a little smarter than most girls you lure into your bedroom."

"I don't lure them, they come willingly," Draco said. "And I mean that in more than one way."

"She wouldn't, you said it yourself and we both know it," Blaise said through gritted teeth. "Anyway, we're late. The whole reason I tried so hard to get you up this morning is because Theo found something interesting in the library. Wanted to meet up with us so we could see it," Blaise explained, leaving it at that; he didn't want anyone to overhear them, yet the campus was still deserted.

Blaise began walking in the direction of the library, not bothering to wait for Draco. Draco was still thinking about the bet and the muggle girl and fucking to really care about the library. He followed Blaise, a smirk still lingering on his sharp features.

…

Blaise and Draco entered the library quickly to escape the sudden rain that had broken through the darkening sky. They were halfway to the library when a downpour enveloped them and they began to run. Inside the door, Draco felt his hair was matted to his forehead and Blaise took his bag down from over his head.

Theo sat on the nearest table waiting for them. The place was fairly busy since it was the middle of the week and Draco was finding it difficult to believe Theo could have found anything interesting about a bunch of hardworking bookworms. But he followed Blaise to Theo, a smile still on his lips as he kept thinking about the girl, his paper, and their meeting.

"What is he so happy about?" Theo asked as they got close.

"He's trying to think of the best way to filet or perhaps fuck our muggle TA, I'm not actually certain," Blaise said sharply. "Now, what are we here for?"

Draco laughed but looked back at Blaise. "I've been better around muggle girls that's for sure, but not enough to be considering sleeping with one, I told you that already."

It was true; he wasn't sure he could do that, but tricking Blaise into thinking he had slept with a muggle? Now that he could manage.

"Then you don't get your wand, it's as simple as that," Blaise stated, looking irritated.

"Am I interrupting something?" Theo asked, out of the circle completely.

"Nothing Theo, we just have a little bet going. Naturally, I'm going to try to sabotage it. Now show us what it is you need to show us," Draco insisted gesturing for Theo to lead the way, his mouth sporting a mischievous smile.

"Okay, come on," Theo said, and as they took off toward the South Corridor, Theo's voice fell to a whisper. They ducked around a corner, where they approached a long, windowless hall hidden behind a shelf. "I think I might have found… a separate library."

They continued down the hall, all the while Draco's thoughts had shifted. Back in the library he was reminded of her and the meeting he was definitely going to attend at her office. He couldn't wait to piss her off again. He knew what she was capable of and she would be furious that he actually showed up since she warned Blaise. It would be hilariously perfect.

He decided he would try to seem nice this time, sweet talk her enough to get her guard down and then strike. If that didn't work and she was a ball of rage again, he could just yell back at her.

Plus, a small part of him, although he wasn't going to admit it, wanted to see if she really did turn him on like he thought she might have weeks ago. He hadn't lied, he did believe she had nice legs and maybe her face was pretty, but it still confused him that his body would react to her. She was a muggle, it didn't make sense. It made him suspicious but he didn't want to tell Blaise that. He would be just overjoyed.

He shook his thoughts. _Whatever, it's nothing. Don't need to think about that at all…_ Blaise and Theo stopped in front of him. Draco hadn't been paying attention to what was going on and when he looked around all he saw was an old section in the library in a dark corner that looked like many volumes of the same book. When he got closer, he saw they were encyclopedias.

"What exactly were you doing down here, eh Theo? It's deserted alright," Draco said, looking around. He wandered to the shelf and took a volume off, blowing off the dust. "What did she look like?" Draco snickered, turning the pages and laughing.

"She was fine, thanks for asking. Redhead. Reminded me of that little Weasley girl. She was hot and very dumb. Anyway," Theo cleared his throat. "I was here with her but when I saw this out of the corner of my eye I had to cut things short. It's not every day you see a picture of Hogwarts grounds in a muggle uni."

A picture hanging between the shelves at the end of the row lay in an ornate, silver frame. When Blaise and Draco saw it, they gasped. The Whomping Willow stood tall and ratty on a foggy, snow covered morning within the frame. Theo walked up to it and swung the portrait open; a narrow passage lay beyond it.

"Well where does it go?" Draco said moving forward quickly and disappearing beyond. Blaise quickly looked around before taking out his wand and lighting the end.

"I'm assuming it goes to _another_ section of the library you arse," Blaise replied, moving into the passage.

"Well from the view on the other side I think it would be off the west end because we came from the south and took that corner a while back. But I can't be sure, I still don't know this campus as well as I should." Theo said. The darkness was engulfing as they walked through the portrait and there were no windows.

"What do you mean 'view' it's fucking dark as hell in here," Draco complained, useless without his wand to light the way. Lumos was one of those weird spells that could only be done with a wand. Blaise shoved him aside, lighting his own, and proceeded down. The corridor quickly came to an end where a narrow staircase went up high and crooked to a small landing. A single, plain door was waiting at the top.

"It's a magical door, you can't just open it. I found that out already. Whoever made this must have been a fucking Ravenclaw, there's a question to answer the door," Theo said and they climbed up the small staircase one at a time. Draco went up first and when he reached the door he knocked, not knowing what else to do. Letters came into view as if they were carved into the wood: _What is your name? What is your ambition?_

"His name is Draco and he hopes to make people suffer," laughed Blaise from behind them. Draco kicked at his knee.

"I said, 'Theo and to see what's on the other side,' and it worked. It might be broken, that was the same question as before," Theo said, and the door did swing open; whether from Theo's answer or Blaise's, they wouldn't know.

The door opened up to a large round room. They had been in the darkness for a while and now Draco knew why Theo had said he thought they were on the West end. He thought he could just see the fountain out the huge windows. He walked over to them and looked out at the landscape below.

He guessed the staircase had to be magical because they seemed a lot higher up than they'd originally climbed. Rain was falling steadily along the lawn below. Inside the room, there was more variety in book covers than previously seen in the rest of the library downstairs. These were definitely magical books; an ink and quill lay abandoned on a desk in the middle of the room.

"Um, but why are these all here?" Draco asked. When he turned to face the rest of the room, Theo stood just inside the doorway and Blaise walked around speechless. The wooden floors were dusky and there was a tiny, broken looking fireplace opposite the door. A beat up armchair sat next to the fireplace and shelves stacked in weird lines to the ceiling all around.

"Dunno really," Theo said, "but I'm guessing some witches or wizards made it back in the day. It looks like it hasn't been touched in years." He walked over to the table and pushed around some parchment lying there. More quills looked dried up on the floor next to the table. "I didn't really look around when I found it."

Draco looked at the shelves of books with a smile. He could finally read real quality books again. He stopped to peruse through a section of books on magical body charms and pulled out a copy. Hey, maybe something in here would help him cover up his fucking mark better.

"Well, we could probably start practicing here instead, its ample space at least," Blaise said from the windows. Theo stopped rifling papers and stopped to read a section. "It's probably well-guarded, I could see if a Ward Detection Spell would reveal any fortifications but if the spells are too old it might not detect them. Who knows, there might be some interesting locked away in these books or something." Blaise was still looking at the window when Theo walked over to him.

"Here," he said, handing him the folded paper. "Looks like something from first war era. Interesting information indeed." Blaise's face was stern as he took the page to read it. It was an old copy of the Daily Prophet newspaper and it was stained in black ink on one side. The portion of the article that was still visible was a headline stating: 3 More Found Dead in Kent. The boys exchanged glances.

"Can we just put a bed in here and then I won't have to bother you with waking up for classes and such?" Draco laughed, flipping through the book in his hands. "What did you say about Kent?"

Blaise read the article title again and Draco just sighed. "How come we can't find anything cool without it be tainted with war shit?" he walked over to the armchair, considering sitting down before thinking better of it. It was falling apart and way too dirty.

"Okay, no bed. But can we at least transfigure this place to be comfortable?" Draco asked, realizing he couldn't do it on his own without his wand; his transfiguration was not that good. He looked at the books nearest him again and flipped one open before sitting on the window sill. His eyes reflected his interest in the contents.

"Maybe you'll be of use then for once," Blaise laughed. "Who knows, with these old books maybe you'll learn a thing or two about the world."

"Highly unlikely," Draco scoffed, his nose still in his book. Theo and Blaise snickered.

"Nice find," Blaise said to Theo. "That book he's reading. I've seen it before. That Gryffindor ghost carries it around with him. Think this place could really be that old?"

Draco had been listening the whole time and while he couldn't even recall what the Gryffindor ghost even looked like let alone his book, he quickly went to the inside front cover. It couldn't hurt to look for the copyright date. It was from 1621. How old was this place?

…

Hermione sat at her desk in Roost Tower overlooking the bubbling fountain below. It was Friday of the following week after she had turned back papers and the last day of meetings. All week she had struggled with talking to students about their papers, many of them ill prepared for just what Sterns' actually wanted from them. With as much warning as Sterns gave them, three kids had to be walked through the process because they hadn't been to class to hear what they needed to prepare. Another student had tried to bribe her with free drink tokens for the bar this Saturday and then tried to convince her to go with him to a date night party. Definitely no.

One kid had even written a completely different copy of his paper and had insisted he turned in the wrong one. She had attempted to grade the second one quickly and talk about both. It had been a disaster. She had already talked with ten students from Sterns' class in the last two hours straight, no doubt the kids who had put off this discussion as long as possible. She was only scheduled for another hour or so but she was already drained.

As she looked out the window, the sun glazed the water in the fountain beautifully. She almost couldn't see the walkway beyond the light was so bright. She wanted nothing more than to go outside and enjoy the rest of the day. With all the rain at the middle of the week, it was lucky they got nice weather for the weekend. As much as she loved having these discussions, the long, challenging day just needed to end.

She sipped from her coffee mug and continued to look distractedly out the window, hoping no one else would show up, when the faintest of knocks came to her ears. As slowly as she took her eyes away from the paradise outside the window his figure glided into the room in full view, a horrid grin across his pointed face. Her eyes narrowed and she was brought back to a shitty reality. Like her day could get any worse…

 _How he could even dare come here is beyond me,_ she seethed silently. _Oh, he's dead. The minute he opens his mouth…_ she had been dreading this day since last week when she gave Blaise his paper. She had hoped he would have the right mind to stay away, just avoid it all together to spare himself. Friday was the last day and she had a ray of hope when she hadn't seen his name on the list.

But she had been wrong. He had clearly seen this as another opportunity to really piss her off, his smile trying to distract her from his real motives. She could read him easily. After such a long day of discussions and work, she did not want to deal with what a visit from him would entail.

"I don't know what to be more surprised of, that you bothered to show up here at all or that you bothered to knock," she hissed, putting her cup down much harder than necessary. The hopes that she was getting out early were lost completely.

"Well, I can't very well be rude when someone invites me so graciously to her office, now can I?" he challenged, taking a seat opposite her and putting his feet up. It was like he owned the place and Hermione was livid. She analyzed his wrinkle-free slacks and still muddy boots hanging on her desk, having dropped a tiny bit of dirt on her notebooks. He ran a hand through his hair and jostled a cigarette that was tucked behind his ear. Hermione scoffed in disgust, pushing out the thought that he looked like a storybook villain, albeit a decently attractive one.

She practically snarled at herself for thinking that way. She yanked the notebook out from under his feet and he lifted them smiling, as if he were doing her a favor. She narrowed her eyes again. "Invite is a strong word and I don't think gracious is how I sounded about it either. I didn't know Blaise was hard of hearing, I'll have to remember that next time I want something to get back to you." Her words were biting but Draco was still as confident and carefree as ever. He was riding off her continued annoyance and she had insulted Blaise; he couldn't be happier.

"Well I definitely will relay the message, he'll be crushed to hear you make fun of him," Draco kidded, hoping she would be embarrassed.

"Both of you can just go to hell, I don't care, now leave my office before I make you," Hermione spat. She was in no mood for his shit.

"Was that a threat? Now, now, you should watch yourself, wouldn't want to make the wrong impression on the wrong people. Sterns knows my father, I'm sure you wouldn't want to fail a class would you?" Draco looked at her sincerely.

Hermione couldn't speak. She was furious, the retorts and defenses were sprinting through her mind, eager to escape. How could he just waltz in and act like he could run everything, threatening her with her grades even? She was tired of him walking on everyone, tired that on her he walked especially hard. As she gripped the edge of the desk and stood, she felt a rush of magic to her clenched fingers and let go quickly.

She took a deep breath, pretending nothing happened to keep the magic from actually leaving her body like it felt like it wanted to. _I can't have that happen, not now with him here!_ She thought quickly. She had to think logically; the only solution wasn't appealing however. The only way she could deal with this would be to at least pretend to go through the discussion and try to get him gone as fast as possible with as few problems as she could prevent him from starting. She knew this wasn't going to be easy.

She sighed heavily as she sat back down. "Give me your fucking paper then, I need to know what we're discussing," she reached a reluctant hand forward.

He took his feet off her desk then and swung them down to stand. He took two steps forward so he was right against the desk and looked at her. "It's rather interesting seeing you behind a desk, you look way too powerful. But from up here," he said, bringing his voice to almost a whisper, "I like my odds."

It was intimidating but Hermione wasn't letting her fearlessness go. _What the fuck was he trying to say?! I'll show him what he can do with his odds! Ugh!_ Hermione's eyes were daring him to act up, her hand waiting impatiently open for his paper. He reached behind him to his back pocket and pulled out the small piece of brown parchment that she now recognized as the paper she had given Blaise last week. He leaned across the desk to give it to her and didn't let go right away. She pulled too hard and he let it go suddenly with a smile as she fell back into her chair.

She scoffed at him but he turned on his heel and hurried quickly from the room without saying anything more. Hermione looked incredulous; her mouth gaped open in disbelief and she was about to yell, but she thought better. _He's out of my hair at least, good riddance._ She looked back at the crumbled page still in her hands, still frustrated. But soon her frustration was replaced with curiosity.

There was only one paragraph on the page written in a small but very neat and curling hand with a fine pen. She hadn't seen anything like it except in old movies about princesses or storybooks with elves, but she told herself not to be amused. It was his work after all. It didn't look like much, the page was only three sentences, but what it did hold both frightened and angered her:

 _When you lust after something you cannot have, like Gatsby does to Daisy, he is led to insanity. The only way to escape insanity was death. Sometimes heroes have to want to die._

Underneath it was the only red Sterns had written on the whole piece:

No discussion needed.

She ripped the page in half.

…

Draco was in the living room lying on the piano bench, his feet draped onto the top of the instrument in a haphazard way. He made it look comfortable. He was reading a book and there was the faint sound of the piano playing without the keys actually moving.

Blaise walked through the front door then, not looking too happy; he threw his backpack to the floor roughly and sprawled in an arm chair. He hadn't noticed Draco at first and sighed heavily into his hands.

"Well I don't want to interrupt your end of the day self-reflection, but if it's any consolation I was here first," Draco said quietly not looking up. Blaise almost jumped.

"Merlin, you're as creepy as your father sneaking up on us summers ago, so unnecessary," Blaise stated. "Have you been there all day lurking or only just recently?"

"I'm not creepy or like my father," Draco's voice was low and aggressive compared to his previous jovial banter. "And if you must know, I was actually doing work earlier today," said Draco, not getting up.

"No you didn't," Blaise sat up, crossing his arms. "You never do work. Why is today any different?"

"Because it was the last day to get our meetings in this week and I'd hate to worry about my paper all weekend, obviously," smiled Draco viciously, lifting his eyes up from the page he was on. He looked particularly evil and Blaise was not amused.

"Oh Merlin, you didn't. Please tell me Roost Tower is still standing," Blaise asked furiously. Draco threw the book down and stood up, the piano music stopping. He walked down the step to the living room and sat opposite Blaise.

"Oh, I was as charming as ever, why would you think otherwise, it's like you don't trust me you know," Draco joked.

"Draco," said Blaise threateningly. He just laughed.

"Oh, come on. I wasn't mean I promise. I told her all about how I was so nicely invited to come to her office. She's not very happy with you telling me, but, I doubt that's of any concern, I told her we'd work on it," Draco paused in his story, looking over at Blaise whose face was red with anger. "Hey, she tried to kick me out by the way, so there's that. Wasn't even going to help me."

"I can't believe you. Like you would actually accept her help, Merlin you are so vile," Blaise shook his head before getting up, grabbing his bag and heading for the kitchen.

"Oh I would have accepted it fine, if I would have needed any," Draco laughed. "However, Sterns wrote himself that I didn't, so I honestly win all around, don't I?"

Blaise looked over from the doorway, his eyes on fire. "You really are turning out to be quite the death eater's son, aren't you? I'm sure you're dad would be proud." He left Draco to his thoughts, the ghost of Draco's smile looking ghastly on his features; the dark mark on his arm gave a twitch.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.** ** _"_**

 **Here's the prompt I worked off of (again, I don't own the prompt, thx to whoever does):**

 ** _A modern AU where Hermione never got her letter._**

 ** _Hermione Granger had always been odd. Terribly brilliant and scathingly ruthless, her perception of the world had made her the object of schoolyard jests, her peers doling out punishment by virtue of her strangeness, children terrifying in the dangerous manner only children are capable of. And so alone in her room, she made her dolls move by her will. That was years ago._**

 ** _Now all grown up, she becomes, almost obsessively, determined to prove that more than will, magic reinforced her spine. And by God, if there's a whole different world out there, Hermione will be part of it - even if she has to claw her way in._**

 ** _So when a pretty boy shows up, all sharp lines, and light hair, and the snark of old rich, she is drawn to him and the mark on his arm. He is well-versed in manipulation and the sorcery of the dark, and when he offers her a hand to beckon her come, she takes it."_**

 ** _Thanks for continuing to review, it means the world to me and helps me out!_**

The door slammed behind her as she threw her backpack across the floor. It slid with a whip under the couch and made a crash with the wall behind it. The lamp on the table beside it shook with the closing of the door and wobbled for a few moments. It had only been half an hour since her encounter with prince charming himself and she was beside herself with confusion. Hermione stormed over to the window and stared with her hands on the glass. Her temper was fuming and she thought she was going to pass out, her head was spinning so much.

A snarl escaped her mouth in a giant puff that fogged the window in front of her and she looked back at her reflection. Her brown eyes looked distressed as they stared back at herself. When she brought her hands to her face, her cheeks were hot. _This boy is driving me absolutely insane and I have no idea what to do._

She stood by the window, looking at the little people milling around outside. She was trying to take some deep breaths to calm her nerves, but was unsuccessful. The swirling fall sky only reminded her of his eyes and it pissed her off more. _Why the fuck do I remember his eye color?! Ugh!_ Colors swirled below in the rush of autumn festivities; Halloween was only two weeks away. The coffee shop on the corner had a sign for pumpkin lattes and the grocery store across the street had a display of all its Halloween decorations amongst tons of pumpkins that practically spilled onto the sidewalk.

 _Okay Hermione, relax. You can't let him get to you like this, you just can't!_ But even in her own head she couldn't stop her interest as she remembered his paper that Sterns obviously found clever. It was a frighteningly accurate analysis but Hermione didn't think it fair for him to win over Sterns just like that! And on the first paper nonetheless!

When she actually calmed down enough to think about what he wrote, she paced the room wondering what kinds of secrets were hidden behind that smug look of his. _"Sometimes heroes have to want to die." That's both a noble and morbid option for a hero,_ Hermione thought. _He doesn't strike me as the hero type, not by far. He thinks he's just so smart!_ she fumed around the room, mad that he probably got the best grade in the class. She hadn't managed to see any other papers with that little of corrections on it.

She was still pacing back and forth in front of the windows, thinking about the whole mess when Erin walked in the door, carrying a large pumpkin. When she saw Hermione, she lifted one eyebrow in hopes of an explanation. Instead, she got a short scream of frustration before Hermione collapsed on the couch. She looked completely exasperated, her bushy hair sprawled out more than normal.

"I have a feeling your day didn't go well?" Erin guessed, setting her things down and walking to the sink to start some tea for the both of them. "This week has been a hoot, huh?"

"I was this close to leaving my stuffy office and finally getting away from all the dimwitted students that had to have discussions with me," Hermione held up her hand making a small gesture to show Erin just how close she had been to freedom. "And then he waltzes in, trying to sweet talk me and using his fucking social status to get under my skin! His father knows Sterns apparently, so fuck my A in this class!"

"Sweet talking eh? I bet that's not all he can do with his mouth, maybe you should have let him keep talking instead of yelling at him to get out like you probably did," said Erin, not helping in the situation. Her jokes about this guy were really getting on Hermione's nerves and the look she gave Erin was enough to scare her. She grew serious as Hermione got up and approached her as she unpacked groceries.

"See that's the thing, I think he actually likes when I yell at him! He just looks at me with these eyes like he's getting off and then his fucking paper. God Erin, you'll never believe this! Sterns thought it was gold! He let him pass with no discussion at all and fucking Malfoy really just wanted to rub in my face that he got an A! Ugh!"

Erin could do nothing but laugh; she had stopped unpacking groceries and was bent over trying to catch her breath. Hermione looked around the fridge to see why she hadn't responded yet, a look of exasperation coming when she spotted Erin.

"He's a man after your own heart Hermione, gushing over good grades and all!" Erin had finally recovered enough to speak and she wiped an eye as she grabbed the bag she had set down. "What better than to have one that can actually keep up with you academically. Ugh, just go for him already and stop fighting it!"

"That's not fair Erin! I can't be tempted by his manipulation, I just won't because I know he does that to everyone, I've see it. But he won't fool me, I see right through him and I think that bothers him, to be honest. I just don't know why it bothers him, what's he got to hide besides whatever hideous tattoo is on his arm? That right there is like a red flag," Hermione explained then.

"Okay, okay, so he could be hiding something, everybody's got skeletons in their closets Hermione. You do think he's attractive and if you can't stop thinking about him maybe there is something more to him, maybe you really do want to consider actually having a conversation with him," Erin suggested with a wink. She left out several ingredients for dinner and Hermione got out a cutting board and knife.

Hermione took a deep breath, heeding Erin's words. She really did need to relax about this, but the thing was, she was being honest to Erin. She had no idea why, but this kid, this Malfoy git, kept her attention. There was something about him that was intriguing and she hated herself for it. Whether it was her interest in the library, where he actually looked like a person who enjoyed something as wonderful as books, or his almost sensual way of talking to her in her office, she just knew something was up. It drew Hermione in like the trickiest of riddles or the toughest of papers. If she didn't watch it, she would be in trouble because she had quite the knack for always having to figure things out.

"Just do me a favor," Erin said then, stopping on her way to the stove and making eye contact. "If he does have bones in that closet of his, you make sure they're the good kind." Hermione swatted at her as she walked away cackling. When Erin looked finally quieted, she smiled at Hermione who only pouted.

As she continuing preparing vegetables, Hermione thought back on just what kind of person he actually was. She didn't really know that much, but she could deduce a bit. He was manipulative, that was for sure; his good looks and diction made it easy to overlook his arrogance. But was that the real him? And if it wasn't, what was he hiding behind that almost crazy superiority he held? Her mind reeled as the knife in her hand chopped to the pace of her thoughts.

"You do know that isn't him under your knife Hermione," Erin said, still laughing as she stirred. Hermione sighed as she took a second to pause. She took a deep breathe before continuing chopping much slower.

"It's just, do you think he realizes I can see right through that fake charm bullshit? He already has shown his talons to me, it's not like I'll buy it again. Maybe that's why I piss him off so much… " Hermione mused, talking with her hands. The knife sliced through the air as if she was proving the point with it.

"Well, maybe all that charm and socialite bullshit is a cover. Maybe underneath that shitty exterior is actually something else," Erin suggested. Hermione thought about it, but just laughed.

"What do you mean, like he's some criminal or something on the run or like 'he's an adult that still wets the bed' kind of hiding? I honestly don't know which I'd rather hope he'd be," Hermione joked, glad to finally find a little humor in all this nonsense.

"Or possibly he's like a 'heavy into BDSM' kind of guy?" Erin said, coming up with another obscure secret. "Like Christian Grey!" They continued on listing very weird but very real things that Malfoy could possibly be hiding from the general public. Many however, Hermione hoped weren't true out of sheer disgust at things Erin came up with.

"I remember seeing him the first day and all remember? That's why we recognized him at the party. That first day he saw me; he might not remember, but he did. And he basically taunted me as he smoked out on the lawn, he pulled down his glasses, his eyes were so mesmerizing," Hermione recalled the memory like it had just happened. She thought about it often actually, even if she grew mad at herself every time. She didn't like that he was on her mind so much of late. But that first day he had seemed charming and she knew nothing about him. It was an innocent attraction then.

"Oh really? But you won't take my advice and actually talk to him, God you're so stubborn sometimes!" stated Erin, pushing Hermione out of the way to finish the meal with Hermione's ingredients. Hermione just sulked as she placed the utensils in the sink. When she was done cleaning them she grabbed a stool at the island and put her chin in her hands.

"Okay but every time he actually talks to me, I can't get past his cockiness! I know he puts up a front, I just don't know how to get around it. You saw how he first insulted me back at the party. It's like he has some secret dislike for me and I don't know why. Maybe that's what he's hiding, maybe he's an anti-feminist or I remind him of his ex or something! I don't know, but it's frustrating to no end and I'm going insane!" Her last words were muffled as she buried her head in her arms.

"Aw, poor little Hermione, if only there was a way to stop this madness!" Erin laughed from the stove, but she was being sincere. Her tone was sympathetic as she made them both a plate of food. Hermione looked up, trying to think of anything to make the situation better. It seemed highly unlikely, but she thought on it anyway because it calmed her mind to plan things. When Erin handed Hermione her plate, she held on to it and said, "Who knows, maybe he's gay?" With a laugh and a grateful thank you Hermione took the plate and the girls ate together, talking about the weekend to get Hermione's mind away from annoying blondes.

After eating, the girls went to separate rooms and Hermione did some work on her essays to distract her busy mind. She only let her mind wander twice, when she had points of writer's block, but both times she found her thoughts full. The mud on his boots mixed with the gray of his eyes and she had to look away from the window, as it was the same color as the sky outside in the coming night. After two hours of work she got up from her desk and flopped on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

 _What am I going to do?_ She thought, the lights in her room now dim with the darkness outside. This was only the first paper he had handed in; would he get the same grades on everything, destined to be better than Hermione had been last year in Sterns class? The thought made her angry but then again, maybe he wouldn't even show up to her office again. She remembered his paper too, _if it could be considered a 'paper.' It was three sentences…_

She got up and grabbed her notebook then, opening to the back cover where the two halves of brown parchment that were his paper lay. They were crinkled from her thrusting them inside with too much force earlier after she had sat for twenty minutes puzzling over what he wrote. Not to mention the fact he wrote it on what looked like butcher paper. _How bizarre._

 _Maybe this is why I think he's hiding something,_ she told herself then, taking the halves and holding them together so she could reread it again. ' _Sometimes heroes have to want to die.'_ Hermione frowned; even though she greatly disliked him, it was a very bold statement. Did he realize it made him almost human? She laughed at this but quickly stopped. She remembered actually being kind of upset he left so quickly, because his paper really would have made the most stimulating discussion. Someone actually at her level in this class was remarkable and very exciting, even if it was him of all people.

 _Ugh! I just want to know!_ The thought had only just come to mind as she tossed his paper onto her desk when a small wave of magic came down her arm. A stream of light shot from her finger tips and the rest of the papers lying on her desk scattered around the room. It seemed every time she grew too frustrated her magic was getting away from her these days. And she had to wonder, as she kneeled down to pick up the papers: _Was it just coincidence that he always happened to be the one to frustrate me and make me lose control like this?_ It was a very curious thing…

…

Draco sat in the newly furnished library tower Theo had discovered, lazily reading from the same body enchantment book he had found on their first visit. Blaise had refused to give him use of his wand to redo the place himself, to which Draco insisted the entire time how much faster he would have it done if he didn't have to be directing Blaise. Theo took over to prevent another fight and Blaise was thankful.

The window seats that the four large, square windows had were taken down to the floor now and the first sunlight they had seen in a long time was streaming through. The light fell on Draco who was sitting against one of the shelves closest to the window. The fireplace had been cleaned but no fires lit yet; the October weather still hadn't grown too bitter to warrant that. But the wind that was gusting through campus today was making a light howling noise against the roof, which was calming to someone so entranced by their book. Draco didn't notice when the door swung open and Theo emerged from below.

"Oi, do you do anything but read lately?" he said, approaching Draco, who looked up then to the sudden noise in the room. This was probably the fourth time Theo walked in to Draco, nose in a book. Theo flopped down on the new couch they had placed by the fireplace; the arm chair cleaned and made grand again was now off to the side by a desk.

"It's nice to see you too Theo, what dismal news have you today, dare I ask," Draco drawled, not putting the book away. "I don't know why you didn't just wake us up this morning instead of going to fucking class like a freaking first year."

"Well maybe because to actually look like we fit in here we need to look like students. Or maybe because I know how much you enjoy Blaise waking you up. I'd hate to intrude, it's like the highlight of his day," Theo joked, knowing Draco would find the remark funny.

"But anyway, I didn't want to miss my boxing class, I actually like it a lot. Gets out a lot of aggression," Theo mentioned then, and Draco thought of their fathers. "And we should wait for Blaise he'll want to here this."

Theo got up from the couch to look out the window to see if Blaise was on his way. They had placed an extra few cloaking charms on the windows so the wrong eyes didn't wander up and see what they were doing or come to investigate. They had just enough of a view that they could see the entrance to the library and half of the path.

"Aye mate, lookie here," chuckled Theo after a few moments. Since he wasn't going to say anymore, Draco's attention perked up and he stood stretching.

"Why, what's so interesting? Unless like, a muggle fell over and dropped all his books or got rejected by some girl, then I don't care," He closed the book and walked over to where Theo was looking out at the library entrance. When Draco looked over Theo's shoulder to see where he was pointing, he raised an eyebrow at the curious sight below.

There was Blaise, just a little ways up the pathway to the library, sitting on a bench smiling and chatting to a girl beside him. The girl's scarf hung loosely around her neck and her long brown curls were bushy, swirling in the wind. A smile was on her face as she talked with her hands despite almost spilling her coffee. A book was open and laying in her lap. She looked pretty sitting there, the shade from the tree behind her being too weak to cover the streaming sun that illuminated her face.

He recognized the girl then, but he kept staring. After a few minutes he blinked, suddenly taken aback. He hadn't realized he had been staring at her the whole time, and he did not welcome those thoughts coming to his mind about her. Sure, she was pretty to look at, but she wasn't attractive, not like that, not to him. _No, she couldn't be, I wouldn't._

He tore his eyes away, walking back into the room, confused. Hadn't he just gone to her office and told Blaise all about it? Did he forget to mention he insulted Blaise to her? He didn't think so, but he was still confused. _There's no way I'm jealous, is there?_

He quickly recalled back to his adventures to her office where, only a minute before he knocked, he paused to stare at her. He was surprised he had stopped, but in her office behind her desk she sat with a pen in her hand, biting the end and Draco couldn't move. Her lips were the slightest pink in the light and he could just see her legs crossed under her desk. It was a tempting sight when he remembered what Blaise had said about her legs…

He quickly gained his composure however, and he cursed himself under his breath. _Any pretty little muggle or witch would look hot sitting behind a desk like that, it's nothing. So you have a thing for intelligence, that's not a crime. You have the upper hand here. Remember that._ After his own mental encouragement outside the door he entered, and not once did he regret seeing her beforehand. When he made her squirm and yell, he was only impressed further, and getting under her skin was just so much fun.

"He's probably apologizing to her for my 'terrible' behavior to her in her office, I'm sure of it," Draco said then, turning back to Theo. Theo had stopped watching but was leaning against the window looking over at Draco. "He likes her you know."

"Is that a hint of jealousy I suspect Draco?" Theo inquired with a wink, but Draco just narrowed his eyes.

"Highly unlikely, but you do know how much I like to," Draco paused, trying to find the right word, " _distract_ Blaise's girls from him, show them their options you know." He sat on the arm chair, a look of contemplation on his face. In their years at Hogwarts Draco had 'distracted' quite a few girls from Blaise; most of the time it wasn't on purpose. However, there were definitely occasions where it had been. And now, with Blaise chitchatting away with her, he wanted to show her the better choice.

"Theo, it looks like I might have to do a little distracting, if you know what I mean," he laughed to himself, a smirk dangling on his pointed features. He looked rather scary in the sunlight. Theo shook his head in warning and didn't say anything, definitely not wanting to take sides in this.

Since Draco was used to acquiring girls from under Blaise's nose, why should this be any different? Plus, winning the bet with _her_ of all people would make Blaise furious. His smirk looked wolfish at the ideas in his mind as he opened his book back up to wait for Blaise.

…

"What took you so long mate, did that muggle slut Jess spy you in the café or something?" Draco played dumb when Blaise walked into the room fifteen minutes later.

"No I wasn't talking to Jess. I was doing extra credit work for calc and I lost track of time. Sorry," Blaise said, the tone of his voice defensive against the accusation. He had no idea Draco knew exactly who he was talking to.

"Interesting," Draco said then, looking over at Theo with raised eyebrows. Blaise didn't notice and waltzed in, throwing his bag in a corner and approaching Theo.

"So, what's up, what happened last night Theo?" Blaise asked, hands on his hips. Blaise and Draco were on time this morning for once and there was a note in the kitchen from Theo to meet them later because he had some news to share.

"My mum's patronus showed up last night, I had almost forgotten what it was it nearly scared the shit out of me," he explained. Draco put the book down and walked over to join the boys. "She couldn't say much, it was a little risky for her to send one to begin with. Apparently my brother and Crabbe got jumped by some from the Order last night." He spoke solemnly.

Draco looked apologetic, but deep down he knew he couldn't blame the Order for trying to do something, anything. Blaise's face was hard. "They're alright, they got away at least, but the only other thing she had time to say was that he's not happy about an attack on our own. He's going to do something to start fixing the problem areas, get things moving in a sense," The words sounded hollow and the boys stayed silent for a little while.

As Draco thought about all the gruesome things that could possibly mean 'fix the problem' to death eaters, he grew worried. "That's all we have to go off of? A band of psycho purgers wants to 'fix' a problem? That could go pretty badly, don't you think?" Draco said what they were all thinking.

"Yes. Exactly. Glad you're finally catching on. This is going to be a big problem; think they are going to start working on getting Hogwarts up and running?" Blaise asked, suspicion flooded the tone of his voice.

"I have no idea. It definitely could. We have no idea, I hate that we're in the dark," Theo rushed, walking over to a window and staring out. His features were marked with frustration.

"And what do you propose we do, risk our lives and run back, before we get the shaft for deflecting?" Draco said sarcastically; he didn't mean it though. He knew they could never go back.

"Well all we've been doing is sitting here, not even bothering to get any more information or help out our friends, anything really!" Blaise was frustrated too. "Even a propaganda filled Daily Prophet would be grand right now," He began to pace in front of the windows.

"Unless there's an owl hidden in your backpack, we aren't getting a newspaper anytime soon," Theo said then, "it's too risky anyway. Same with floo."

"And they know our patronuses for sure, it's not like we can change those easily," Draco threw in, reminding them of another useful piece of information. An uneasy shadow hung on Theo's drawn face. Draco's mouth became a line as he became lost in thought, thinking of just what the death eaters could possibly do to protect their side and what moving forward with plans could mean. He knew what length they'd go in order to protect their own. He turned away, his eyes falling on a shelf of books.

"Well we aren't exactly the stupidest three wizards in the world," Draco said then, recalling a section of books on Magical Translocation somewhere on the far wall. He walked over to where he thought it was. "I'm sure we can find a way to get hold of information without being noticed. We're in a fucking magical library that's old as time; there's got to be something here," Draco suggested, pulling out a volume.

Theo and Blaise looked at each other blinking. "This is serious mate, not some prank we're pulling. We could get killed or tortured or, I don't even know, but if they even suspected us being here, or us trying to figure out their plans, we would be screwed." It was Theo who spoke, warning in his voice.

"I am aware. But I also think with a little research," Draco smiled, tossing the book to Blaise who caught it easily, "we might come up with something. We can devise a plan, the perfect strategy. It's like I've said before, they've lost some of their more hopeful recruits," he said, gesturing to the three of them. "They don't call Slytherin cunning for nothing."

Theo and Blaise sighed, realizing it was probably their only option. Blaise contemplated other choices before walking over to Draco and grabbing a book from the shelf he was looking at. "Well for what it's worth, it's your neck we're going to risk then," Blaise said, opening the book and flipping through to the table of contents. Draco chuckled and turned back to the shelf, his laugh quieting in his throat as determination took its place. There had to be something they could do, they were wizards after all.

…

As Hermione looked over the planner in her hand, she grabbed an apple from her bag and took a bite. Two weeks after her fiasco in her office with Malfoy, she sat at a table in the quad with scattered pages of notes for her next assignment. Her workload was nothing she couldn't handle, but it didn't hurt to be well organized and ahead of deadlines anyway. Halloween was this weekend and she wanted it to be worry free. Midterms would be coming the week after and she was going to be beyond prepared, like always.

The wind was really starting to pick up, and it was becoming useless for her to attempt to study outside much longer. It was sad but she couldn't be angry; _seasons always have to change,_ she thought to herself. She decided it best to go to the library then, since she still had an hour until Sterns class, to best spend her time. She had purposefully come to campus early to get in some extra studying.

She gathered her papers up and tried to organize them quickly before they all blew away with the now whipping wind. Shouldering her bag and wrapping up her scarf, she went to grab coffee from the café before going to the library. Nothing like a caffeine jolt to get you going for a study session. There was a line however, so she pulled a notebook loose from her bag to keep reading, not wanting to lose any time.

After a few minutes the line had only moved a little. The wind seemed to settle behind her, or at least she thought it was settling. Another person had actually gotten in line behind her and was shielding some of the wind. She didn't turn to look but she welcomed the calmer air. As she was rereading the same paragraph for a third time, a cool voice suddenly appeared at her ear and she froze.

"Do you get the feeling that Gatsby only liked Daisy for her money?" Malfoy's voice came out as a whisper that curled into a smile as he stood behind her. She didn't turn to see him but kept staring straight ahead. She knew who it was and didn't really want to provoke him if she didn't have to; although, she couldn't help but think about what he said. _Curse my intellect._

Gatsby was rich himself, Malfoy didn't make any sense. "Well she represented that to him when he was young and poor; riches and status, she had these things," she said, only turning her head over her shoulder enough to just see his smirking face. It annoyed her to no end but she couldn't not talk about the book. "I'm surprised you don't seem to like his character, I figured a rich socialite throwing parties in his mansion would be right up your alley."

Malfoy just stood there, listening to her response and thinking about it before replying. "Oh, I like his character. Do what it takes to get what you want," his voice was above a whisper now, but it was still soft through the rushing wind around them. He was leaning towards her so she could hear him and the proximity made a shiver run down her spine. "But he's no hero that's for sure."

She huffed at the feeling and pulled her bag further up her arm. She crossed her arms and turned partly behind her. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of confronting her face to face. She thought about what he could mean by his statement and figured he was referring to his paper. "So if he's not the hero who is, and why should he want to die?" Hermione challenged, bringing up the line from his paper.

"Nick Carraway of course, our unnoticed hero," suggested Malfoy, raising an eyebrow. He didn't address her second question; better to leave her guessing at his thoughts. She finally looked at him then, his eyes a misty gray that matched the sky. The hint of temptation in them caused her jaw to hang open; he was actually talking logical, hard facts from a novel in an organized, analytical way and his good looks were not helping the situation. She hated his paper wasn't a fluke, but what was going on? _Are we actually getting along? Did I just admit I liked his eyes?! Fucking Christ no. This is ending._

"As much as I'm surprised that you read the whole book through, and that you can actually hold a conversation, you do realize this is what you were supposed to be doing in my office two weeks ago instead of muddying it with your boots and your bragging?" She felt bold and wanted to call him out. It was the only way to keep her mind from wondering what other books he liked.

"You already are aware how much I enjoy libraries and the book was short," Malfoy reminded her, nodding to the counter that was now open. The clerk was waiting to take her order. She narrowed her eyes at the mention of the library and turned around to order. She missed seeing the small smile creep to his lips and the glance he exchanged with the delighted looking clerk.

As she waited for the clerk to make her coffee, she heard Malfoy's voice again. "As for conversations, you don't seem to have any problem with talking to Blaise. Him and I aren't much different." She didn't answer right away, too baffled that he didn't understand why they didn't get along and from the fact he was practically confirming there was more than meets the eye. Now she really felt she was in deep.

"Yes, well he's civil, unlike you, who seems to think spilling drinks warrants death threats," Hermione countered over her shoulder. Bringing up their first encounter was sure to throw him off this niceness he was suddenly so full of.

The clerk was handing the coffee cup out the window as Malfoy took two steps forward. They were now very close and it made her nervous, she didn't reach for the cup right away. His airy voice felt almost intoxicating in their proximity and she held her breath in anticipation.

"You see, I have a bad habit of _appearing_ as anything but civil," he smiled at her as he took the coffee from the clerk, proving his point. "Cheers," he said, and he turned and walked away leaving Hermione in his wake, her mouth gaping and her hand coffee-less.

She blinked a few times, trying to comprehend all that just happened. _Well, at least he knows he's an uncivil jackass,_ she thought, before turning back to the counter in front of her. The clerk was busy making her a new cup, and she thought of his actions. _It was like he was a different person!_ She couldn't understand it; they'd had a conversation, a real conversation, about books nonetheless!

No one had given her the analytics of the story that he had and she could guess he had even more. _And his mention of Nick Carraway being the hero was interesting as well…_ she thought, her curiosity seemingly endless. She took the cup from the clerk then and, when she tried to hand her money, she just shook her head and smiled before pointing to the far end of the quad.

She followed the clerk's finger and spotted Malfoy one last time, disappearing into the South Hall. Hermione was speechless as she realized it was his intention the whole time to steal her coffee from under her nose. He always seemed to be one step ahead of her and, while she wanted to be angry at him, she couldn't say no to free coffee. She fought a small smile as she took a reluctant sip and headed for the library, way more on her mind than midterms.

…

He brought the cup to his lips for the first time as he stepped just inside the South Hall doors. He smirked to himself as he sipped her coffee, not surprised she would opt for the pumpkin blend. He was reminded of breakfast in the Great Hall.

Draco really didn't have anywhere to go; there was a little under an hour until Sterns' class which he had with her and he had to let her stew a bit on their latest conversation before going back. He had seen her on campus only moments before and watched her from her table, waiting for the perfect moment. When she had gotten in line for coffee, he had seen his chance.

It had been the perfect opportunity to really make her go crazy and with her coffee now in his hands, he was fairly certain he succeeded. All he had to do was let the café clerk know ahead of time to let him pay for both drinks and wait until she finally got in line. It was easy enough, the clerk giddy at his gesture thinking he was trying to earn her flattery. He knew she was smart, she wouldn't be the teacher's assistant if she wasn't, so she wouldn't be able to resist talking about the book they had read.

It had been almost too easy and he loved seeing her cheeks catch with blush as he talked. He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind when she realized he actually understood the book clearly. _Looks like I found the one person who's better at school than me,_ he mused. He kind of liked talking to her, she at least was smart. She was probably going to come up with a million new things from the book now and he knew it was because of him. He continued to walk down the hall, a skip in his step.

But he had done what he needed to do; he had distracted her enough to make her think twice about him. That was all he needed and hopefully Blaise and her own curiosity would work out the rest. He was putting a little bit of a risk in this, but it would all be worth it if it worked out perfectly. At least, to him it would be.

As he reached the end of the hall, he took the door to his right, which opened once again to the quad. The wind was still blowing and he pulled the collar of his shirt and jacket closer to his neck. He glanced at the large clock that was made to blend in with the outside of the café and couldn't decide if he really wanted to go to class in half an hour or not.

He looked around the vicinity around the café and, seeing she was nowhere in sight, smiled to himself as he headed for the library. He didn't feel like going to class and sitting through Sterns lecture about the American Dream represented in books for the fourth class in a row. It seemed a waste. But, since he had already gotten her interest, he might consider going just to see. What better way to get her irritated further than show up for once?

 _Only time will tell,_ he thought then, reaching the top of the path outside the library. He ducked inside the doors quickly, his ears thankful to be met with the silence of the library instead of the rush of wind. He walked in slowly, wondering what Blaise would think when he actually showed up in the lecture hall before him. They had come to campus separately because Blaise wanted to do some last minute studying before his calc test later. _Foolish honestly, is there even an application for calculus in the wizarding world? I doubt it…_

He made his way to the back corridor and up through the dark hall that led to the entrance to their secret library. Entering the small door, he walked over to the windows and looked down on the rushing trees. He sipped the coffee in his hand before turning back to the room. A stack of books Blaise had pulled out were on the table and he went over to inspect them.

Sifting through, he picked one in the middle titled, _Communication for the Curious Spellsman,_ dated from 1650. Blaise ultimately had chosen any book that might help them figure out a way to send and receive messages from others, but they hadn't made much progress. They were going to have to start working harder. He took the book and left the tower, deciding it best to go to class after all.

A small smile washed over his face as he exited the grand doors and headed for the Roost. _And while I'm waiting outside reading,_ he thought, the wind still not letting up, _maybe I can catch her on the way in…_

…

Blaise rounded the corner of the library quickly; he had been set up at one of the balcony tables, his head stuck between pages of notes on derivations and complicated formulas. He hoped he was prepared enough and felt rather good about it when he realized he had only five minutes to get to Sterns' class.

Scooping up his notes for calc and shoving them into his bag, he got up from the table and quickly headed for the main staircase. Upon reaching for the front door, another student seemed to have the same idea. She was barreling up behind him, a copy of _The Great Gatsby_ open in front of her face, blocking her sight.

She was walking so fast she hadn't seen Blaise, whose face held the most confusing smile as she bumped into him trying to exit the doors herself. "Oh! I'm sorry, I must have not been paying attention, I-" she said quickly before Hermione registered who was in front of her.

"No worries, but I assumed you would have finished that book a while ago since we've already turned in our papers," Blaise said smiling, referring to the tattered copy in her hands.

"Good books are always worth a reread," she said, closing it. She looked uncomfortable as Blaise held the door open for her, but she waited for him on the other side anyway. They were going to the same place so they might as well walk together.

It appeared that was Blaise's intention as he joined her and they continued down the path. Hermione was the first to speak, and it took Blaise by surprise when the words left her mouth.

"So I don't think I care to know the answer, but if Malfoy can make it to campus well before class starts, how come he is absent from this class more than not?" Her voice was a little muffled from the wind but Blaise could still hear her.

"Even when he's not around I can't get away from the git," Blaise said jokingly. They looked at each other then and laughed. "Where did you see him this morning and do I dare ask if he tried anything again?"

"He surprised me in line for the café actually," she said, recalling the earlier events. They walked down the path from the library and headed for the double doors of the Roost. "Don't get me wrong, I'm surprised he actually read the book and that he understood it at the level he did, but he still can't seem to get off that high horse he's on, can he?" Blaise chuckled at her words.

He was still confused however, why on earth Malfoy would go out of his way to find her on campus and talk to her this morning? He didn't usually put in any extra effort just to be a piss off. Blaise didn't like the idea of Malfoy seeking her out and it was worse that said had used the word 'nice.' Malfoy casually talking of literary themes in line for coffee sounded too good to be true.

He had to be up to something and Blaise didn't like the sound of it. "Trust me, you don't want to see him off his high horse. He can't stand on his own for shit," Blaise said, hoping she would take his word for it. Hermione laughed at Blaise's warning, but didn't have time for a response.

As they reached the Roost steps, there was the boy in question; he was leaning against one of the large pillars at the top of the stairs, right before the entrance to the Roost. An interesting looking, purple bound book was in his hand, a cigarette and Hermione's coffee from earlier in the other.

Hermione and Blaise's faces held the same expression when they both locked eyes on the blonde, smiling in front of them. He stood there waiting for them to get up the stairs before speaking. Blaise held his breath at what he could possibly have in store for them; he figured Malfoy could have planned all this.

"Good Morning Blaise, and, I don't even know your name actually, but since you're both late it doesn't really matter, does it? Sterns will have your heads," he stated before the smile on his lips became a deep smirk. He quickly ashed out the cigarette and disappeared down the hall, not bothering to wait for the two gaping in his wake.

"We are late," Blaise pointed out, an apologetic look on his face as they both bolted inside. They just caught a glimpse of blonde hair disappear into the classroom as they rounded the hallway to the lecture hall.

As they reached the door, Hermione whispered to Blaise, "And I let him buy my coffee this morning," she sighed shaking her head and smiling. The look she gave was soft on top of slight exasperation, as if she was almost impressed. She quickly snuck through the door and went off to the left, leaving Blaise in the doorway. He entered and took to the opposite side of the lecture hall where Draco sat, making it with five seconds to spare before Sterns began lecturing.

When Blaise took his seat, he glanced over at his friend as he got his notebook out. Draco looked much as he always did, his legs crossed and on the chair in front of him, a coffee in his hand, except a smirk lingered on his mouth. He leaned towards Blaise then, and whispered to him, "Do you think she'd like it if I called her Alice? Alice lost in wonderland, she definitely feels that way now." He laughed at his own joke.

Blaise's eyes were slits as he responded, "Her name is Hermione. Hermione Granger, I'm sure you can use her real name since you were so nice to her this morning getting coffee." His remark was bitter, not because he had sweet talked her but more so because Draco always seem to think he could walk all over everyone, especially his friends. It was getting tiresome.

Draco tried to stifle his laughter as he practically choked on the sip of coffee he had taken. A few people looked over and he made eye contact with them to show he was alright. "You sound a little put off, no?" he said when he could speak.

"Oh not at all. I'm just busy trying to pay attention as well as figure out your real agenda, since she is definitely not the right girl for you to lose this bet to and you won't convince me just by having little discussions with her," Blaise mentioned, trying to focus both on Sterns' notes and the conversation going on between them.

"Ha, please. It was hardly a conversation, we talked of the book and that was all. She does have good taste in coffee though," said Draco, tipping his cup towards Blaise as if they were clinking glasses and took another gulp of the pumpkin flavored brew.

"You stole her coffee, are you mad?" Blaise said then, a little too loud. Sterns looked over at them with a hard glare. Blaise just looked apologetic; Draco smiled. Sterns continued lecturing as Blaise bent over his notebook again, refusing to look at Draco. Draco wasn't listening anyway. His eyes had wandered to the far side of the room. As he stared at the brunette, who was obviously doing her best to keep her eyes facing forward, she stole a look his way.

Instantly she was embarrassed to catch his eye. She didn't look long, but before she faced forward again he tipped the coffee in his hand towards her in mock cheers. She looked annoyed but she fought a faint smile curling up one side of her mouth. She didn't look over for the rest of the class and left before either Blaise or Draco noticed. When they left together after Sterns dismissed the class, Blaise was silent, leaving Draco at the library for his calc test.

…

Hermione sat at the kitchen counter looking over her planner, all her papers neatly lined up in front of her. It had been hours since she left Sterns' class without being noticed and she was still reeling. It seemed any pause in her work was filled with annoyance, confusion, and curiosity. What with Malfoy's interesting conversation in the coffee line to his small suggestion at his own personality upon stealing her coffee but paying for it, and then with seeing him outside class when she was with Blaise really made her unable to focus on schoolwork.

She had been surprised by how much she liked the conversation about Gatsby her and Malfoy had shared, after not being able to really study any more once she got to the library after she finally got her coffee. _Why didn't he talk that way all the time?!_ She felt flustered; she couldn't comprehend why that while he was still pompous as shit, she felt that his mind would just be so interesting to pick.

 _I still can't figure out what he meant in his paper either!_ She recalled, setting down her planner and pulling out the notebook that held his paper in the back. She looked it over again, in its wrinkled state, holding the two pieces together so she could read it. _'Nick Carraway of course, our unnoticed hero,'_ his words echoed through her as she read the last line of his paper yet again. She sat a few moments before turning back to her planner.

Frustrated, she put her head in her hands. Blaise had seemed uncomfortable when she mentioned him too. That was weird. _Did they normally make it difficult for each other to talk to girls_? she wondered, as that seemed to be a likely motive for the overly popular blonde. She could see his mind working on the best ways of pissing off his friends, and it seemed likely. Although she wasn't sure she was happy realizing it, as she did really find Blaise a nice, attractive young man.

Suddenly the intercom buzzed and Ginny's voice filled the room. "Oi, Hermione we're here, open up please!" Her voice shook slightly in her throat and Hermione was rushed back into the real world. She quickly skidded over to push the unlock button, knowing she didn't need to respond for them to know they could come right up. She hoped she had just imagined Ginny's voice waver.

The door opened in a minute and Ginny's red hair was a flash of color across the room as she bee lined for the nearest armchair. She curled up on it and hugged her knees, looking like she were about to cry. Hermione had grew to love the closeness the girls had for how soon into their friendship it was; it was almost as if they were destined to become friends which is what made Hermione so distressed then, to see Ginny on the verge of a breakdown.

Luna scurried in right after, a little less jovial than her usual self; her mouth was a straight line across her small, thin face and it matched the line that came across her forehead as she looked at Hermione's concerned face. Some tears began to spill out of Ginny's eyes and Hermione was horrified. "What-?" she started, but Luna cut her off rather suddenly.

"It's her brother, Ronald, that and Harry. They haven't gotten back to us yet and they've been gone quite some time now," Luna said softly. Hermione remembered hearing about Ginny's boyfriend Harry, but didn't know the context of why he wasn't here with her. She had originally stated they'd all went to university together before it had turned corrupt. Maybe they were involved in a resistance? The thoughts came fast to her mind, forgetting her own reflection of her day and the boys that wouldn't leave her alone.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, where are they exactly?" Hermione prompted, hoping it wouldn't bring more tears. She was still in the kitchen, putting a pot of tea on the stove when she came over. She hesitated behind the armchair and put a hand on Ginny's shoulder.

Ginny sniffed, her tears still falling lightly; it seemed she had been holding them in most of the day. She was a strong girl and didn't let her emotions or sensitivity get the best of her, but she was only human and since she was finally amongst friends behind closed doors, she couldn't help the sadness seeping out.

"They, they're on a trip, for, for a political rally," Ginny stated after a sniffle. "You see, Harry is all about the greater good, for everyone really. And well, there have been some more riots and protests lately, and he just HAS to do something. Not that I'm against that it's just-" she eyed Hermione quickly, "it's dangerous, there's been attacks and it's just not okay for him to not owl-" Luna nudged her suddenly and Ginny cleared her throat, not sure what to say.

"It's not okay that he hasn't called her yet," Luna said for her, smiling encouragement.

"Well that seems very noble of him," Hermione said after a moment or so, hoping this would not make the waterworks start up again. Her confusion was written across her face, but she didn't want to push the subject.

"Yeah, yeah, it is, I get that. He has a, a connection with the riots. His parents were- were killed when he was only a baby and… and that led to all the problems. He has a deep connection with this because of it," Ginny revealed, and it seemed difficult for her to admit his involvement. She still seemed to struggle on phrasing her words, like she was trying not to reveal too much or didn't feel confident in the information. Luna clearly already knew all as she sat on the arm of the chair silently nodding. She looked a little worried that Ginny might let go of some secret information.

Hermione didn't want to pester them for more, but her curiosity was skyrocketing; _what kind of tragic situation to find your boyfriend in!_ She wondered what exactly these riots were about, and how Ron and Harry were going to stop them. She knew they were her age, but she didn't feel like two 21 year olds could really do much for the corruption of an institution, especially if it had turned violent.

Hermione hadn't had time for the newspaper lately, but she recalled reading about a small protest in a French town in the beginning of the year. The suspects were linked back to a smaller village in Scotland and they might have leads elsewhere. She originally thought it odd, but maybe the crimes had continued, and that had just been the start. Maybe she'd have to try to investigate, if it was alright with her friends, but now wasn't the time to ask.

"Well…" she tried, hoping she wasn't intruding too much into the personal business of the boys, "What exactly are the riots about? What's the main issue? It's awfully difficult to fix if you don't have an adequate plan of action, something to solve it based on logical evidence." She hoped she did not sound too much like a nerdy know-it-all, but logic was her strong point.

"Uh…" Ginny looked at Luna for some help, tears seeming to start forming in her eyes again.

"They're over discrimination allegations," Luna's lofty voice came to Hermione's ears and hung there. "It is quite the noble cause, but it is not easy in any sense. The school was like a safe place for all of us from the corruption of the adults in the community surrounding the school; the administration and higher ranked authorities started to become corrupt and bias. It hasn't stopped." Her words seemed to choke the air, and the tension hung thick for a few minutes as the girls sat in silence.

Hermione got up to grab the tea, bringing in two steaming mugs for the girls. Luna had a hand on Ginny's back for sympathy, rubbing gentle circles in time to her small sobs. The rain steadily fell in small sheets over the lush yellow landscape on the distant hills out the window, echoing the silent girls. Hermione was first to talk, her voice soft and loving.

"Ginny, would you… tell me about Harry? I don't know much about the boy who's clearly stolen your heart, and he sounds outstanding," Hermione asked politely, hoping her encouragement would bring fondness instead of sadness.

Ginny sniffled again. "Well," she said slowly, "He's so, just so admirable. He's strong and caring. The amount of care he has is insane for one person to have inside them. He never wants anyone to sacrifice for him." _That's a fairly strong statement_ , Hermione thought. 'Sacrifice' was a strong word, but in her distress maybe Ginny just wanted to prove to herself what he was doing was okay.

"He's clever too," Luna said, helping her out.

"Yes. He has a habit of being good at things without realizing it. He picks things up easily. It's quite remarkable…" Ginny's eyes were glassy looking because of her tears but Hermione could see fondness coming to them and it made her happy.

"What does he look like? Handsome I presume," Hermione mused.

"Dapper," said Luna with a small smile.

"Oh he's so good looking Hermione. He's tall and he's got this outrageous black hair, it's always long and hanging in his face, but I love it," Ginny said, thinking back on the boy she had to leave.

"Anything else?" Hermione asked again, wanting to keep Ginny's mind occupied on the boy, not what he might be up to. At least she'd have a break from worrying.

"Well, he's popular but he wishes he wasn't. He knows it's for the wrong reasons, he doesn't always see his own ability to be a leader. But when he's with me or his friends and stuff, he brags a lot. It's annoying but you know deep down he has the right to brag and you just can't be mad." Ginny gushed then, looking bittersweet at Hermione processing this information, hoping she would understand how great she believed Harry to be. The tears on her face had dried. "He's the best."

"I'm glad Ginny. That's amazing that you have such a great person in your life. I hope he gets back to you soon then, so he can come for a visit! I want to meet him!" Hermione laughed. Ginny smiled. "But if people place as much stock as you say in him and your eyes shining when you talk of him are of any worth, I'd say he's probably going to be okay and he wouldn't want you worrying." She looked earnestly at Ginny, a hand on her arm. "But, in the meantime, we can try to help you relax all the same."

Hermione smiled at Ginny as she took the empty cups to the sink. She felt terrible for the situation she found her new friend in. She wanted to know she was here for her, no matter what; hopefully talking about Harry helped Ginny to calm down. Her tears had stopped at least.

"Thank you Hermione, really. Sorry to rush in here in such a whirlwind," Ginny called to her after a few minutes of wiping her eyes.

"Quite alright. I'm always here if you need, I hope you both know that," she said coming back in the room and sitting opposite them on the sofa.

"Well thanks. It's just, it's not like him to not get back to me, but hopefully it'll work out," her last words were marked with nervousness but she smiled anyway. After a few minutes of sitting in silence collecting her thoughts, Ginny spoke again. "Think you could help me with one of my assignments, now that I'm here?"

It was an abrupt change of subject, but Hermione knew Ginny needed it and obliged. Within an hour the room was littered with the work of Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, all in separate corners of the room. Hermione was still on the counter, where she had returned to her essays. Luna had taken up a spot in front of the window, reading her biology textbook while lying on the floor. Ginny sat at the coffee table, looking at the assignments in front of her.

Ginny got up with a sigh, obviously stuck again, bringing a piece of paper up to Hermione at the counter. She didn't give Hermione the paper right away but went for a glass of water from the sink before leaning on the table in front of Erin's pumpkin.

"I like what you've done with the place," Ginny said then, and Hermione looked up from her notes. Ginny gestured with her glass the decorations in the room. Besides the pumpkin on the counter, Erin had taken to hanging up a bunch of black paper bats and white paper ghosts and the window had fake spider webs on the edges. Hermione looked around, remembering how mad Erin was that she couldn't get the bats and ghosts in the kitchen's vaulted ceiling. It had been too tall for her to reach.

Hermione snorted to herself as she remembered charming them up there late at night with some magic. Erin's smile the next day had been worth it. She claimed she borrowed a ladder from the Student Association, saying she needed it for club stuff. It worked well enough of a cover. "Well, Halloween is this weekend. Have you both picked out costumes yet?" Hermione asked suddenly turning to see if Luna heard her. Luna got up from the floor and floated over to the girls, taking the seat next to Hermione.

"Why do we need costumes?" Ginny wondered out loud. Hermione just laughed.

"Well for the soccer team's annual Halloween Party of course! You both have to go, I mean it! It's one of the best parties all year!" Hermione gushed; she hadn't wanted to seem so giddy, but she couldn't help it. It really was one of the biggest and best parties the school held. But she could see the disbelief in Ginny and Luna's eyes so she explained.

"Okay so every year the soccer team doesn't have any house parties until Halloween. They have the biggest house on campus, it's gorgeous inside, and they always make it creepy and have tons of games and masks and punch. It's a costume party like any other, but it marks the start of their parties for the year since all September they are pretty much in boot camp to prepare for season," Hermione stated, like this was obviously the best thing they've heard.

She hated bringing it up when Ginny didn't have a good day, but maybe it would raise her spirits. Maybe the news of a party and the fun of costumes would take her mind off her adventurous boyfriend. "The costumes are the best, sometimes you have no idea who people are and some are just so clever," Hermione said, hoping their interest would be sparked.

"I think it sounds grand," Luna said after a few moments. She smiled. "Back when we had sporting events I used to make the best costumes; I have the craziest lion head one, we were the lions too," she mentioned before continuing quickly. "I'm going to have to start planning. I love making outfits, would you like me to make one for you guys as well? I think I could have them all done by Friday night…"

As Luna looked off into her own imagination at what costumes she could possibly come up with, Ginny shook her head furiously at Hermione.

"I think we'll pass Luna, wouldn't want to all match now, would we?" Ginny said, a clever save. Hermione looked worried that Ginny would decline so fast but figured it was probably for the best. She gave Hermione a "trust me" kind of look.

"Well, I haven't gotten anything yet. But I always wait until the last minute, I don't like trying too hard to dress up. I still like looking like myself and I have a backup costume from previous years if I can't come up with anything by the weekend," Hermione said, not mentioning what her backup was. It was ironic almost, that her backup costume was a witch, since she knew of her own special powers that were much like the spells and potions of old lore.

She thought about just what else she could be this year; maybe she would actually go with Erin, Christine, and Therese to the costume store on the outside of town. It got all its business around this time with the costume party almost upon them. But as she looked back at her planner, the idea of being a witch again seemed appealing. It would leave her with more time to study at least.

"I'll figure something out, I'm sure. I still have four days, right?" Hermione nervously laughed. "What about you Ginny, what do you fancy yourself in?"

Ginny just raised her eyebrows. "I'm not usually one to dress up, but since it's tradition and all, I guess I'll have to."

"No worries, Erin has at least a dozen old ones you guys can borrow. She was a fox last year, a nurse before that, and three years ago she went as a bottle of champagne, bubbles and all," Hermione recalled, the last one being her favorite. It looked amazing on Erin's slender figure and the fake bubbles let just enough of her breasts show. She rocked it.

"Alright, alright. Those seem a little much, but at least I know what I'm dealing with. This does sound like a riot, I bet it'll be a good time. Count us in, just give me the fox ears to wear and we'll call it a costume," Ginny mused, but she couldn't cover up the excitement in her voice. All three girls were giddy for the weekend to be here; Hermione's thoughts reflecting happily on the coming weekend. Now all she had to do was get through this week…

…

It was nightfall by the time Draco walked in the door, having spent the rest of the day up in the library looking at all the books that were at his disposal. He threw his coat on the rack by the door and kicked off his shoes hastily, hoping to avoid seeing Blaise. He didn't feel like discussing where he had been or what he had been doing, the only question he seemed to be asking him lately.

He just always had the same answer; he had been researching in the library, hoping to find some way to get them a newspaper or a message without being detected. But he had no luck. The boys were growing restless without information or anything to really figure out what was going on with the magical world.

It was Thursday now, two days since he had last gone to Sterns' class and had his delightful conversation with Granger. Blaise had firmly told him he had to be respectful enough to use her name, so he figured her last was better than none. He didn't want to give them both the satisfaction of a first name.

He was being honest that he actually did want to know what was going on in the wizarding world. They were basically four months without information or a bit of news that it was actually making him stressed. _What was going on with our families? How much had my dad gotten my mum involved now that I'm gone? Was she killed?_ He shook the dark thoughts that were as bleak as the hallway he walked through. He would know if she had been killed. He knew he would and that was putting too much stock in the dark side.

Once inside his room, he grabbed an unopened bottle of fire whiskey from a cabinet by his window and poured himself a hefty glass. He was exhausted from researching most of the day and wanted nothing more than to sit in a warm bath when there was a knock on his door. He opened it with a wave of his hand, and Theo took a few steps into the room.

Draco hadn't bothered to turn on any lights yet, so the only light was moonlight coming in from the balcony doors, illuminating Draco's figure by the fire. "Hey, how are you?" Theo started.

"I've been better, but it's of no consequence. I've still been reading all the books Blaise set out. I've now narrowed out magic carpets, brooms, vanishing cabinets, invisibility cloaks. I started on displacement potions today, but even though I'm top of the class in potions, I doubt Snape could make one that is going to work one hundred percent," he explained, his voice sounding tired.

"Yeah, I thought I had something yesterday between classes, but when I mentioned apparition Blaise just rolled his eyes. We still look like us, you know," said Theo, sitting down on the small couch facing the fire. He stared at the flames as Draco drank half his glass before responding. The firelight caught Theo's eyes, which looked weary.

"Yeah, I thought this would be a good idea you know, but now I'm just annoyed really. I wish we had a break from this, but Blaise is persistent," Draco spoke with the same tired voice as he poured Theo a glass and walked over to hand it to him. Theo took it thankfully.

"You up for anything fun tonight then, to distract ourselves maybe?" Theo chided, drinking heavily on the glass. Despite the fear that wouldn't leave them alone thinking of the death eaters, they couldn't spend every waking moment trying to come up with ideas. They were college kids after all. "Maybe we can even convince Blaise to come out of his cave."

"Ha, he definitely needs a night out," Draco laughed. "I bet I could rouse him. I've been a dick to him lately, he'll probably claim he has to study. Maybe if I sort of apologize, I can convince him though."

"Well, I know Dean from my boxing class said we should come through. He and the rest of that socking team of his or whatever are meeting up at the pub on the corner of Pratt. Could be fun you know," Theo mentioned. Draco recalled Dean, a frequent partier and new friend of Theo since they'd been partners in boxing for the past month.

Despite his muggle background, he was a burly athlete on one of the school's sports teams and he was fun to drink with, albeit a little rowdy. He and his friends were some of the muggles Draco could tolerate for longer spans of time. Dean also shared Draco's appreciation for girls.

Draco finished the fire whiskey in his glass in one more large gulp and poured himself another, ignoring the burn of his throat as he slugged it down too. "You're right. We should go," he said breathily. The fire in his throat felt nice. "Plus that kid they call Patches or whatever always has weed and I could really use the relaxation."

"It's settled then, but," Theo said, getting up to grab the bottle from Draco and pouring himself another larger glass. "You have to rouse Blaise." Draco poured two glasses and took them with him as he left his own room to seek out their third drinking buddy. Maybe he would actually be fun tonight.

…


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.** ** _"_**

 **Here's the prompt I worked off of (again, I don't own the prompt, thx to whoever does):**

 ** _A modern AU where Hermione never got her letter._**

 ** _Hermione Granger had always been odd. Terribly brilliant and scathingly ruthless, her perception of the world had made her the object of schoolyard jests, her peers doling out punishment by virtue of her strangeness, children terrifying in the dangerous manner only children are capable of. And so alone in her room, she made her dolls move by her will. That was years ago._**

 ** _Now all grown up, she becomes, almost obsessively, determined to prove that more than will, magic reinforced her spine. And by God, if there's a whole different world out there, Hermione will be part of it - even if she has to claw her way in._**

 ** _So when a pretty boy shows up, all sharp lines, and light hair, and the snark of old rich, she is drawn to him and the mark on his arm. He is well-versed in manipulation and the sorcery of the dark, and when he offers her a hand to beckon her come, she takes it."_**

Hermione was still finishing up the last touches on her paper when Ginny, Luna, and Erin bustled into the apartment carrying several large bags of groceries. She looked stressed, her hair a mess of frizz behind her as she rubbed her forehead rereading her draft again.

"Midterms aren't due until after break, you can do all the work you want then!" Erin shouted, grabbing the papers and shoving everything into a big pile. She then proceeded to take Hermione's backpack and fill it with all her papers, much to Hermione's chagrin. She sat with her mouth open ready to protest.

"Can't I just finish the one paragraph?! I was almost done!" Hermione squealed, trying to grab the bag from Erin. Erin turned quickly and ran to her room before Hermione could get up. She huffed in defeat and put her pencil down, only now realizing just how long she had been working on that one paper. It was nearly 6 o'clock.

When Erin reentered the room, she carried a large bag. It appeared like a suitcase to Hermione as she began pulling out pieces of clothing and laying them in piles on the couch. Hermione pouted but Erin ignored her.

"So, basically I told Ginny and Luna about your little costume problem," Erin explained, holding up a finger when Hermione tried to defend herself. "And I just can't let you wear that witch's costume a third time!"

Ginny burst out laughing then and it startled everyone in the room. It took her a minute before she slowed her breaths enough to talk. "Your costume is a witch?!" she gasped and laughed again, sucking in air.

"And what's so funny about a witch costume? I had a broomstick and everything!" Hermione finally said, sounding frustrated. Ginny put the back of her hand to her mouth to attempt to stifle more laughter but she was unsuccessful. The only word they could hear from under her breath was the word 'broomstick' as she looked to the ceiling to try to calm down. Luna just rolled her eyes but she was definitely trying not to smile.

"And I haven't worn it three times!" Hermione continued, "We've only had two Halloweens together and freshman year I was a mermaid! You can't count that one time I had too much Patron and put it on, that's just unfair!" The embarrassment was thick in her voice and Erin couldn't help but recall that particular night. Tequila was definitely not Hermione's friend.

"Alright, alright, but I think we can come up with a much better outfit for you. Don't you want to try something new?" Erin's voice was singsong in tone and she smiled nicely over at Hermione.

"So what are you suggesting I wear then?" Hermione said loudly, her face stern. She wasn't sure she trusted Erin and Ginny and Luna all working together on a costume for her. It was a scary thought what those three could come up with…

"We were going to sort through Erin's old ones today to find you one," Luna said, walking over to where Erin was still sorting out pieces and props. Hermione huffed before getting up to look over the back of the couch, her arms crossed.

"Will you just calm down? You know I won't let you look anything but stellar," Erin reminded Hermione, looking at her sincerely. It was true; every time Hermione had dared to let Erin pick her an outfit, she always brought much more attention to herself than she ever thought was possible.

Growing up she had never felt like an object of attraction to boys and it had never bothered her. She had always believed that feeling good in herself was enough. But whenever she found herself in a particularly flattering outfit, she couldn't deny how good the extra glances made her feel. Maybe, with all the stress of midterms and life and TA-ing that had been weighing her down the past weeks, letting Erin pick her costume would be for the best.

Hermione tried to busy herself unpacking the groceries while Luna and Erin sat going through the costumes. It had only been ten minutes in when she glanced over to see their progress, too impatient. She paused as she was placing cans into the cabinet. Luna was now whispering something vicious in Erin's ear; Erin looked nothing but excited.

"She has to wear it, she just has to! It's too funny," Erin was saying before Hermione butt in, obviously annoyed they were leaving her out..

"So what is it? What is this brilliant costume? And it better be fucking gorgeous on me Erin, or I'm not wearing it," she called, looking fierce. Erin just laughed and stood up.

"Oh, you'll love it," Erin smiled wickedly. "It's something real classic."

Luna was searching through the piles of clothes for her own backpack. It had been discarded when she first arrived but had sequentially been hidden beneath all the costumes. When she found it she smiled and got up, walking over to Hermione who was poised in front of an open cabinet. Anticipation was written across her face. Luna pulled out a pleated skirt and a blue necktie and handed it to Hermione. Erin could only howl.

…

Theo stood in the middle of the living room wearing only a small pair of shorts. A dark green bed sheet was falling off his waist and he looked puzzled. "How the fuck does this even work?"

"No, no," Blaise said, "That's definitely not right." He was sitting on the couch with a bored looking Draco, who was busy flipping through a small leather book he stole from the library. It had a Greek symbol on the spine in light white ink.

Several volumes now cluttered the coffee table in front of them, a few of which were spilling onto the floor beneath. A large book was open in front of Blaise and he was pointing at a drawing that spanned both pages. Greek Gods and Goddesses were depicted in beautiful golden hues and Blaise's finger lay on the shoulder of the man in the middle.

"He has it tied up on his shoulder, let me see if I can do it," Blaise was saying, pulling out his wand.

"I would not trust Blaise with his wand so close to my ballsack Theo," Draco stated simply and flipped back and forth between two pages. He appeared to be comparing whatever was drawn upon the pages.

"Shut it Malfoy." Blaise's wand was in the air then, lines of worry beginning to wrinkle Theo's face. He stood fairly tense as Blaise moved his hand and the fabric began to fold around him. The top of the sheet finally came to rest on his left shoulder, leaving a decent amount of skin exposed on his right side. The hem of his toga went down below his knees and he looked himself up and down.

"Thanks Blaise, that would have taken ages," Theo spoke and Draco looked up.

"Alright, you're right. That's not half bad, except it's supposed to be white," Draco actually sounded like he meant it for once and Blaise was surprised. Draco got up, setting his book down on the arm of the couch so he wouldn't lose his page. He picked up another sheet from near Theo's feet, this time it was a black one. He had a small smile playing on his lips and you could see his mind working as he held up the sheet to himself.

"I thought you didn't like the idea of wearing a toga," Blaise chided. Draco stopped looking at the sheet when he heard Blaise's remark and draped it over his arm instead. He walked back over to where Blaise had sat down and grabbed the book he had been looking at. He placed the picture face up in Blaise's lap and turned on his heel to go upstairs.

"That's before I remembered I'd get to be a God for the night," He disappeared up the stairs. Blaise looked at the book now in his lap; a charcoal sketch of the Greek God Hades glared wickedly back at him wearing a black toga that looked like smoke.

…

Hermione stared at herself in the floor length mirror in her room. The light shone in brightly from the street lights outside and with an extra lamp on for doing her makeup, she had a great idea of how she looked. She sighed in relief looking at her reflection; Erin had picked another winning outfit that was for sure.

Hermione had on knee high socks and a fitted, button-up shirt in white, the top two buttons open showing her collar bone. The tie hung loosely knotted around her neck and the skirt was still laying on her bed. She peeked out of her room into the kitchen, to see if the other girls had their costumes on yet.

Luna sat at the counter and was looking through the 'spellbook' from Hermione's old witch's costume that had been lying unused on the chair. She had on what looked like a pharaoh's crown and a set of whiskers painted on her face. She wore gold dress that was borderline orange. The evidence of several pieces of candy lay on the counter in front of her.

Ginny was busy making punch which, once she began pouring it into glasses, was the same color as Luna's outfit. Ginny had a pearl and shell comb stuck in her wild hair that narrowly missed falling in the pitcher. It matched the white crop top she wore that had two pink seashells drawn on it. Her green jeans completed the outfit; they even had a shimmer effect to them. The top had come from Hermione's old mermaid costume back from her freshman year and she smiled.

"Where's the skirt, you can't go around stark at the party," Ginny pointed out then and Hermione blinked as she realized Ginny was in front of her. She handed her a glass and Hermione took it eagerly. It tasted like pumpkin and it was amazing. She gulped down half the cup before remembering it was alcoholic. Ginny laughed.

"I know right? It's my mum's recipe for the holidays! Pumpkin punch, except she thinks I never put alcohol in it," Ginny told Hermione, winking.

Luna looked up from the book and tilted her head to the side. "Are you planning on going with just the top then?" Ginny just laughed. Hermione scoffed before strutting her way back to her room and pulling the skirt on. It fit more snuggly than she thought but it didn't look bad.

When she returned she looked at the girls again, holding out her arms for their inspection. "Better?" she laughed. "It's shorter than I'd like…"

"Well, to be honest I was hoping it would be fine. Luna's not that much smaller than me, but I couldn't find my uniform. But that's also why you have on the socks, for like, a bit more covering up." She sounded only half serious. They both knew there wasn't much to the costume.

"Well, it'll be quite the sight for any of my students, that's for sure," Hermione joked, knowing full well most of the school would be at the soccer team's party tonight. Of course that's where they were headed but she actually hadn't thought of who would be seeing her all dolled up like this.

"It'll be funny to watch at least," Ginny said, and she gave Luna a playful tap on the shoulder as if they weren't giggling about Hermione in front of her. Hermione just smiled; she was happy to have the girls here tonight, she really was. And she was actually glad Erin had forced her to stop doing work. The Halloween Party was a highlight of the year and she didn't want to miss it.

Yet something occurred to her as she busied herself finding the last few pieces of her costume that were laying on the counter. _My students…_ she thought then, a certain blonde haired prat coming to mind. She paused, wondering what he would think. He had a bad habit of telling her exactly what was on his mind. Good or bad. She pushed the thought from her mind quickly. Hopefully he just won't be there.

She retreated back to her room to do her hair, determined to think of the party. But as she brushed her curls into ponytails, she couldn't stop her mind from thinking about all the costumes someone like Malfoy would come up with. She was pissed at herself for the images that came to her mind.

She looked in the mirror one last time, reminding herself to have fun before opening the door. Two, messy ponytails sat on her shoulders. Her lips were a soft red that really made the outfit pop. Her black heeled boots clacked as she walked up to the counter, the edge of her skirt embossed with a small blue and bronze raven. She straightened the tie that matched the blue and bronze embroidered cardigan she carried in her hand.

With the stress of schoolwork, club meetings, tutoring Ginny, and suspicious encounters with blonde haired boys, she really was looking forward to relaxing completely this evening. She wanted to drink and make bad choices with her friends. But thoughts of Malfoy wouldn't leave her mind as she sipped her cup; they were all waiting on Erin. _Why do I care so much if he's going to be there?_

Erin came bustling out of her room within ten minutes and Hermione nearly gasped. She was wearing a full length Egyptian looking outfit of wispy cloth that draped suggestively around her thin body. Gold bangles rattled as she tried to straighten her headpiece. She made an excellent Cleopatra and she whistled at Hermione when she saw her.

"Eh? What'd I tell ya? You look amazing, I'm so excited," she gushed, finally removing her hands from her crown and coming over to join them. "I want to personally send Sterns a picture, it'd give a visual for his raging fantasies that I'm sure he has about you," she joked, and Ginny's laugh almost caused punch to be sprayed all over the counter. Luna smirked.

Hermione was quickly brought away from her immediate thoughts ( _But what costume would he wear? No, don't think about it!)_ She laughed at Erin's inappropriate comment about the professor she almost idolized. She took another sip of her cup before strutting out in the living room like she was in a photoshoot. "Maybe I'll go to his office on Monday like this and he'll just give me an A, let me teach the class even!" Hermione winked.

"Ha, that's gold that is," Ginny laughed.

"Hilarious, but come on, enough about school, let's fucking get drinking!" Erin screamed as she grabbed for a glass. "Happy Halloween bitches!" As the girls clinked glasses in cheers, Hermione felt suddenly excited. Tonight was going to prove to be a great time and she couldn't wait and there was no way she was going to let some silly little boy cloud up her mind.

…

Draco leaned on the pool stick in his hand, concentrating on his next move. A golden cuff gleamed in the light on his wrist as he braced his opposite hand on the red velvet of the table. Draco and Dean were on their second game of billiards and Draco had already won one. The air in the soccer house on the second floor was cloudy with smoke and fake fog from a machine in the corner. There was only one light on above the pool table and it was slightly red in color, putting everything in a weird glow. The room was at the top of the stairs and led to a large balcony, one of three on the house.

The soccer team had decorated their whole house in haunted fashion; ghostly foggy and a quiet, metronomic bass coming through the speakers really made for a spooky feel. Jack-o-lanterns of all kinds littered the shelves, the balconies, and the staircase giving the place an eerily pleasant light. Not many people were here yet, the party wouldn't come to full swing for at least another hour so the boys were passing the time playing pool and hanging out. There were only a handful of people scattered through the room. A table sat in the corner next to the door.

Blaise and Theo were off somewhere, having went to tour the place with two of the other soccer players upon first arrival. Draco hadn't seen them since. The house was huge like promised, and it would soon be filled to the brim with drunk costumed college kids. Draco would take a tour later. He wasn't sure where this night would go; they hadn't made any other plans with the promise of this party being spectacular, but Draco wasn't sold yet. He finally took aim and slammed a ball into a middle pocket.

A girl giggled from somewhere nearby and he looked up. At the table by the door, the kid he remembered as Chad was seated, two girls on either side of him. The one who had laughed smiled widely before swigged down the shot in her hand. Her friend sat quietly sipping, a set of bunny ears above her long black hair. Her skirt was short and made of black fur.

Draco raised his eyebrows pleased as he emptied the clear liquid in his cup. He gave a small grimace at the taste it left in his mouth and turned back to the game. Rounding the table once more, he bent his pool stick to its edge. As he aimed, more girls made their way through the room to get to the deck. He heard them talking about him but didn't flinch; he smashed the cue ball into the far corner, shooting the orange 5 into the pocket easily.

He glanced to the door to watch the girls go, just making eye contact with one on the end. She blushed immediately and hurried her friends along through the door whispering loudly. Draco chuckled and watched a cat's tail and lot of streamers disappear onto the deck. He was sure it made sense if he'd have seen the whole costume but all he saw were plenty of tanned legs… _Damn, girls really did dress the part tonight,_ he thought to himself, turning back to the table. He shot again and missed before walking over to the kid called Chad.

"Got any more?" he asked, before looking the black haired girl up and down quite obviously. Chad reached behind him to the floor, grabbing a large bottle of rum that was three quarter's empty. "Have the rest just don't take my soul," Chad smiled, holding the bottle up like he was offering it as a gift. "How you got stuck with Hades is beyond ironic," Chad said and Draco let out a chuckle. He turned back, the giggling girl with the bunny ears found the joke hilarious when she realized Draco's costume in full.

"I'll take the alcohol over your shitty soul, thank you," Draco said before turning and taking a swig. He walked back over to the billiards table. The girl just laughed harder, trying to quiet her own self to ask where Zeus and Poseidon were. Draco just ignored her.

He didn't miss the other girl's eyes follow him all the way back to the table. He smirked as he heard the bass becoming heavy and echo up through the stairs in the same metronomic pace that was sickeningly catchy. The front door opened again several times and he could hear a parade of people coming through.

Draco looked back over to the dark haired girl while Dean took a shot. She was still staring at him and when he smirked at her she blushed way more than she would have had she not just drank a full shot glass of liquor. But she blushed nonetheless and Draco was thrilled. _These girls are so easy to get going, they really are,_ he thought, placing the bottle on a shelf. Girls did nothing good for his ego and they were already tempting him tonight. Dressed as a God he would really be in trouble.

A mirror hung next to the shelf and he caught a glimpse of his reflection as he passed. His practically white hair stood out against the blurred glow of jack-o-lantern pumpkins that littered the rest of the surfaces in the room. But the crown of gold bones still glimmered with what appeared like real blue flames around his crown. He waved a lazy hand over it, appearing like he was straightening it. Under his breath, he muttered the anti-burning charm once again, just to be certain.

"Just because it's Halloween doesn't mean you should be doing magic in public," a voice whispered in his ear and he almost jumped if he hadn't seen the glimmer of gold behind him. Blaise's figure came into view, a brilliant white robe tied around him. He also had a crown on his head, but his was made of gold leaves. Two small wings came off each side by his ears.

"Damn, then I should have dressed up like a wizard," drawled Draco in mock disappointment. "Ignore her," he said then, as he watched Blaise. He had been scanning the room as he approached Draco and had paused, seeing the girl with Chad. She was pointing quite dramatically to Draco and Blaise, still laughing and pointing out their clothes. Chad just smiled again and nodded to Blaise. "She must be a history major or some shit."

More people shuffled into the room to join Chad and the girls at the table. They were loud and calling out to each other to get each other's attention. Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance when he glanced up from the billiards table to see what the commotion was about. The laughing girl was now telling some epic story to a herd of listeners gathered around her. She was obnoxiously still pointing over to them.

"Enjoying yourself otherwise? I saw a girl that looked awfully like Aphrodite, have you see her?" Blaise mentioned, hoping to peak Draco's interest. The women's soccer team had actually found out about the boys' costumes and attempted to counter them; they were sporting togas to match as the Greek Goddesses, gold and all. It was a hilarious surprise. All of Olympus was now in attendance and it was getting hard to avoid seeing anyone dressed alike.

Draco laughed, "If I had, I'm sure her charm would have drawn me away from this table. Must have actually been Medusa in disguise?"

"I'd be stoned if it were Medusa, but I see you've taken care of that for both of us without any snakes," he gestured to the ashtray on the side of the table that held the crumpled stub of a blunt. Draco shrugged.

"Wasn't all him," Dean said then, coming up to Blaise to shake his hand. It was the first time they'd seen each other tonight. Dean was also wearing a fluffy white sheet around himself. He had a large, golden lightning bolt tied to his belt and it looked like he hadn't shaved in a month.

"Ah, Zeus it's an honor," Blaise said, bowing his head slightly as he shook hands. He smiled and patted Dean's shoulder. "Keeping the shitty God in line, eh? On second thought," Blaise started, "don't call him that, 'God.' It'll go to his head too quickly." Blaise took a step away from Draco, whose eyes were narrowed in Blaise's direction.

"Nah actually, he's kicking my ass!" Dean spoke loudly. Draco relaxed, remembering the billiards game. He smiled viciously before leaning down and taking a shot.

"Yes I am kicking your ass, right into the underworld. That's hell to all of you," he said, looking around to see them laugh. The last colored ball smacked into the pocket with the end of his words. The eight ball was all that was left.

"Okay whatever. You're drinking a God's worth of my booze though, and aren't even showing it." Dean was right; Draco was currently raising the bottle to his lips. It was the one from Chad that had only been three or four shots full, but he finished it off with a wolfish grin. He was feeling quite tipsy now, not to mention the addition of the weed, but he never let it on to many people. Besides being more of an asshole to people like Blaise and making girls blush deeper, he was much the same.

"Oh come on, this is negligible to the amount you're going through downstairs right now," Draco mentioned, as they heard more people stomping inside. He was excited they'd been out as early as they had. He was having a good time for once and the night was only beginning. He glanced over at the girl with the bunny ears. It had been ages since he'd even snogged someone.

She smiled and batted her eyelashes in an innocent sort of way that didn't match the skimpy outfit she had on. Draco couldn't wait to start seeing all the real good costumes the girls would have on. He was finally feeling relief from all their hard work researching for information that he hadn't really felt relaxed in days. He couldn't wait to be fawned on by girls hardly dressed. _So what if they were muggles,_ he looked at the bunny again. _They were at least sexy…_

…

Hermione, Erin, Luna, and Ginny made their way crookedly down the sidewalk. The street lamps gave ample lighting, but they were already tipsy making the walk a little more difficult than it should have been. They laughed all the while, seeing the house come into view for the first time as they rounded the corner. It was three stories and it was the largest around. Jack-o-lanterns gleamed across the front porch and the walkway up to it, where quite a few people were already residing. They held orange cups in their hands and music was coming in eerie waves over the lawn.

Hermione giggled, still tasting the pumpkin punch on her lips. It had been so good they had drank both pitchers and now were quite ready to socialize, costumes and all. Hermione was feeling good about her outfit now that she had loosened up with so much punch. As she walked, she realized how warm the night was. Her cardigan was left behind at the apartment and she had even rolled her sleeves up.

"Oh, what do you think the soccer boys are this year?" Erin asked Hermione, as Luna looked to her in confusion. "They always do a theme and they all wear the same thing. Once you know what one is, it's easier to differentiate them from the rest. They're the best looking and all and if you tell one his outfit is the best out of all the players, they'll give you extra drinks," she winked at Luna, who laughed.

"Yeah but then they'll all be disappointed when Queen Cleopatra doesn't want their hidden treasures," Hermione pointed out, and Erin just shrugged.

"More drinks are more drinks girl!" she laughed, before running up the lane. Luna followed close behind and, after exchanging glances, Hermione and Ginny followed, picking up the pace.

"Come on!" Erin called, reaching the front porch. She slowed when she got to the walkway. She straightened up and walked up the steps slowly like she was something famous, much like the queen she was dressed as walking through the royal court. As Luna waltzed up behind her they were quite the sight; Egyptian royalty and a sphinx. The gold in both their costumes glimmered in the candlelight and a few people looked impressed. Two of the younger soccer players were at the door taking money and handing out cups. One of them stopped and eyed Erin up and down, clearly taken aback by the elaborately dressed girls in front of him.

"You can look but you can't touch these pyramids boys," she said when she saw them ogling. Hermione and Ginny had just made it up the path to see Erin grab a cup from one of the boy's outstretched hand, and disappear through the doorway. Luna just giggled at the boys and rushed past, taking a cup as well. The boys were left in awe and exchanged excited high fives at the prospects that had walked in.

Both boys were wearing toga style outfits, complete with wreaths of gold leaves around their heads. _A Greek theme, how college of them…_ Hermione thought to herself upon seeing their ensembles. She had to admit though, the outfits did look pretty hot on them as she eyed their strong leg muscles wrapped up in laced sandals. She smiled when she approached the door.

They looked Ginny and Hermione up and down in the same way they did to Erin, albeit much less enthusiastically. "We're part of the royal guard, now move," Ginny said starkly as she shoved past them. Her hair flared out behind her as she disappeared into the darkness. Hermione laughed, grabbing two cups and running in after her. The boys were left confused by the door blinking. One pointed at Ginny with a look of disbelief.

Once inside, Hermione blinked in the darkness. By the time her eyes got adjusted to the light inside, she saw Ginny was running away from her to catch up with Erin and Luna. She hustled to catch up, finding it hard to dodge all the people. There was a huge group of people dancing in the living room, flashing orange lights were whirling on the ceiling. When she finally caught up with the girls, who were in line for punch, she looked around.

The inside of the house was just as grand and loud as Hermione had remembered. She looked around eagerly at the spider webs hanging from the banister of the stairs and the jack-o-lanterns that were just as plentiful outside as they were around them now. It created a scary glow around the room that oozed with the smells of alcohol and sweat as people danced in the gloom.

In a matter of seconds, Erin was thrusting an orange cup full of dark liquid to Hermione. Hermione grabbed it quickly, trying not to let it slosh down her front. She smiled as she brought the liquor to her lips; the music thumped heavily through the house as they went right in.

Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Erin hung in a corner, where there were fewer people and the least amount of fog clouding up the place. Hermione, having already drank half her cup, was peering around looking happily at all the costumes. She really had to marvel at some of her classmates' creativity. Ginny grabbed her attention, pulling on her elbow and she leaned in. "Can we go to the bathroom please? I'm dying here and I don't plan on getting lost in this place with all sorts of dudes lurking in the fog," Ginny explained quickly. She looked uncomfortable.

"How much have you drank?" Hermione laughed, before telling them all to follow her. She made it to the stairs before Erin stopped her.

"And where are you leading us Teach?" Erin questioned sarcastically. Hermione smirked, actually finding the joke in good taste.

"Alright, that's funny. We're going to the bathroom, isn't it upstairs?" Hermione answered.

"Oh, yeah. Let's go I remember," Erin began trotting up the stairs, pushing past a group of girls giggling in matching dresses. Hermione pushed past them too; Ginny and Luna hurried up behind them. They approached the bathroom, it was a few doors down the hall. Ginny and Luna scurrying in while Hermione looked at her ponytails in the mirror. Erin was busy snooping around in the hall, checking behind doors for anything interesting. She was nosy that way but it was fun to do.

"Erin, did you see Piper at the door? He was completely awestruck by you, I'm so proud!" Hermione said, still looking at her ponytails and straightening them. But Erin hadn't heard; she was paused just outside the bathroom, peeking behind a door to a billiards room. A curious smile came to her lips as she recognized a certain smokey blonde. The black sheet stretching across his body fell breathtakingly low when he leaned over to take a shot. With a smile she closed the door to the clack of the cue hitting the pool ball.

…

Upon finishing up his game of pool with Dean, Draco bid him and Blaise farewell for more punch. Before leaving the room, he walked over to the table where the girl with bunny ears still sat. Several other girls were sitting near her and she smiled when he stopped in front of her.

"You really should watch your gaze," he said quietly. "Staring at Hades never did anyone any good." She blushed harshly and looked away. The smile was still on her lips.

"I don't know what I'm more interested in, the lightning or the fire," she mused as he turned to leave, and her words bit at his heels. The remark wasn't much but in his intoxicated state it irritated him. He got to the door and pulled it open harder than he meant to. He didn't like being in the same playing field as Dean; he needed to be above that. Late nights and alcohol always made that need all the stronger.

The second Draco reached the hallway, a startled Cleopatra look-alike snapped to attention outside the bathroom door across from him. She smiled upon seeing him like she recognized him and she winked. It took only a second until Draco's eyes were fixed on the image of the brunette in the mirror behind her.

He could tell it was her by the way she held her chin, so subtly above necessary but it suited her quick wit. _Did I just compliment her?_ He felt his head spin with the alcohol. She was busy straightening her hair and looking at herself in the mirror. Draco didn't stop the smirk; it was already on his face.

She looked amazing, making little faces at herself. Draco was surprised by her, as he looked her up and down both in the mirror and out. Although the latter was more difficult, as Cleopatra was definitely trying to distract him away from seeing her. She probably wanted to prevent a fight, he scoffed to himself, recognizing the Egyptian now too. He bent his neck and just saw the edge of her skirt lift as she leaned into the mirror closer. His breathe caught in his throat; _fuck. That's not the same Granger I remember._

Busy contemplating his own desires for the girl in the mirror that he previously hated, he almost didn't notice what she was doing. But suddenly, it clicked in his mind and he froze; he looked to see a small dusting of what appeared to be magic come from her finger tips and move over her hair as she straightened in the mirror. She was oblivious to others, assuming she was well hidden from anyone's view. It appeared to make her hair shine and she looked very satisfied with herself after casting the charm.

Draco's jaw dropped as Cleopatra yanked on his arm, dragging him down the hall to the next door. It went to the balcony and she practically threw him out there; in his shocked state he didn't stop her. She winked before shutting the door behind her, rushing back to Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, who were now finished.

"What are you up to now Erin?" Hermione asked suspiciously. She saw a hidden secret playing on Erin's features. She laughed instead of telling them where she had just been. Hermione took one last look in the mirror. _That's one of the most helpful things this whole magic part of me has done! Given me nice hair,_ she laughed to herself before going into the hall.

"Oh nothing. Just waiting for better timing," Erin said and with that she headed on down the hall and down the stairs. They were back out onto the living room dance floor in minutes, heading out to the yard. Hermione was still curious.

…

As the cooler air on the porch flushed Draco's warmed skin, he finally gained a little bit of composure back. He took a few slow steps over to the railing, leaning with his head between his arms. _She just did… she couldn't… did she just_ _ **do magic?**_

The thoughts were stark in Draco's mind; he would recognize that charm anywhere. It was the same one his mother and his aunts used and it was one many witches learned early. At least ones with reputations to uphold, like many of the Slytherin girls. There wasn't a girl in his year that didn't use it.

 _But wait. That means she's not a muggle… she's not a muggle?!_ He questioned himself then, the alcohol starting to make him a little slow. He couldn't believe what had happened, both the magic and just how much she was able to tempt him; his heart rate was through the roof, the confusion running through his brain.

 _How have I not caught her doing magic before…_ the disbelief was fresh. He couldn't imagine not noticing a small hint, a glimmer, anything! He hated feeling like he failed, even though this was nothing he could have really foreseen.

He might have just found the one person in this place he would actually sleep with and it was the know-it-all bitch. _Figures,_ he chuckled realizing the irony. She was _magical_ though and that meant justification in Draco's eyes. He laughed at the idea because of their relationship so far; getting her in bed with him would be as difficult as trying to get past a Hungarian Horntail.

She would probably try to fight it, but then again, he hadn't really tried to charm her yet. And when he had been nice once or twice, she had been pretty shocked. A vicious smile appeared on his face; he loved a challenge. He might just be able to pull this off.

He suddenly looked up, feeling a lot better with the realization that his lust for her was justified; _purebloods don't attract just anyone, right? I wouldn't have liked her had she not been magical all along I bet._ These thoughts helped ease the small sense of doubt in the back of his mind that what he had seen might not have been magic at all. He ignored it though, thinking back to the prospects the end of the night might now bring.

As Draco blinked in the darkness outside, there was a hint of anticipation growing deep down that he didn't want to own up to. He had whined to Blaise about trying to get Pansy here so many times and he was just so frustrated with not having sex lately that the idea of a witch so close really got to him.

He stood outside feeling the wind blow, taking a few more breaths to calm down. _How do I not know who she is though? Did she go to a different school? Did she go to school in the States and was here visiting, where'd she come from?_

It was weird and he knew this was a big deal. He couldn't let her continue to run around thinking she was the only magical one about. And he needed to be sure she wasn't a spy; they were sons of death eaters in hiding after all.

That was justification enough to at least go talk to her, right? _No, probably not. But she was a fucking witch and a fucking hot one at that,_ he couldn't even deny that to himself as he reached for the doorknob. He couldn't stand around any longer. He needed a little time to think, the image of her skirt never leaving his mind.

…

Hermione followed Erin and Ginny back towards the living room; they had waited in line for a good fifteen minutes before getting punch. The room was devoid of most of the furniture and the space left behind had been converted to a dance floor. Plenty of people milled about. Half of them were dancing while the rest were clustered in chatting circles around the perimeter. A table stretched the length of the back wall, where a handful of girls were standing dancing above everyone.

"I bet you twenty bucks I can't get Hermione up there," Erin laughed, pointing. Ginny snorted and Hermione giggled warmly with the feeling of pink punch coating her mouth. She felt braver now that they were in the semi-darkness of a million other party-goers, but not that brave. Erin was starting to sway to the music in front of her.

"I don't think you'll find me up there, I'll sprain an ankle!" Hermione said, lifting a heel into the air. She was right, it would be a disaster. Erin kept dancing, still talking.

"Nevermind then, no tables. You have other things to look out for," Erin smirked, and Hermione raised her eyebrows tentatively.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Hermione questioned, now even more curious. Luna and Ginny weren't paying attention; they were too busy admiring pumpkins to notice. They were a few feet away, whispering and laughing together over something they found rather outrageous. Hermione ignored their amusement with the decorations, too interested in what Erin had to say.

But Erin didn't get to answer the question. Behind Hermione, the figure of Blaise appeared, a cup in one hand and a caduceus of gold in his other. Hermione blushed upon seeing him, both because of her own surprise and how nice he looked in his bright white toga. He had a gold belt that sparkled on his dark skin and he smiled seeing her.

"Not the surprise I was gonna tell you about, but that's pretty damn close," laughed Erin, before grabbing Ginny and Luna, who hadn't noticed Blaise approach. They were confused as Erin scooted them off to the patio, not realizing Hermione wasn't with them.

Hermione whipped around to see them leave and felt flustered; she hadn't wanted to be completely alone with him! Even if he was completely and utterly attractive right now. _What?! You don't mean that, do you?_ She argued with herself quickly. Maybe it was all the punch, she wasn't sure. But she turned back to him slowly, not wanting to be rude.

"Hi Blaise. I hadn't expected to see you here, but then again since everyone is here it shouldn't be a surprise-" and that's when realization hit. She paused, not trying to appear at all affected by the realization that if Blaise was here, Malfoy most certainly was as well. Malfoy.

 _If he sees me like this, there's no stopping his mouth,_ she immediately concluded, trying to get her mind straight and focus on the conversation with Blaise. She covered up her nervousness with a smile.

Blaise's lips curled around his cup before answering, his eyes looking wide with excitement. "Well I'm always pleased to see you. And my, what a," he scanned her body obviously, "lovely outfit choice." A glimmer of lust flashed in his eyes and she felt flattered.

But she also didn't know if she really liked him enough to let this go that far. He was certainly kind and attractive, but it felt much more friendly of a relationship whenever they'd talked before.

Clearly, Blaise was making his intentions known as he took a step closer and leaned against the wall. Hermione lowered her eyes. _Is he hitting on me?_ Blaise was charming; _except when it involved his git of a friend…_ She laughed at the irony. Malfoy was everyone's problem, _and that does nothing for his ego I'm sure._

She reminded herself to focus on her appreciation for the boy in front of her and not his best friend. Besides, Blaise would make a good catch, maybe they could escalate from their friendship... She had the intention of having a fun night with her girls, so if they were going to leave her behind with a guy she might as well take that advantage. The alcohol was making it easy for her to loosen up and she realized just how much she'd like to hook up tonight.

She pretended to look bashful, not letting Blaise figure out her thoughts too soon. Glancing to the side, she scanned the room a little for any signs of the blonde lurking nearby. She spotted nothing and looked back up at Blaise. Safe for now. She gave a sly smile.

"So how did you get roped into the whole Greek God thing, huh?"

…

Draco was too busy thinking about how great it would be to end his dry spell when he practically bumped into Theo at the top of the stairs. He looked intoxicated but happy and he smiled broadly before clapping Draco on the back. They stood together on the landing. "Aye mate, where have you been? We were asked to challenge Thomas and Shane in that war game of theirs," Theo stated. "I told them I'd go find you and we'd be along soon."

"Ah, I've been playing pool," he said curtly, not wanting to get into detail of all that was currently on his mind. He wasn't sure the information was something he should tell Theo; he probably had some obligation because they were friends and fellow wizards and all, but he waited. Various levels of alcohol really affected abused Slytherins differently and there was no need to provoke anger. Would it be anger he'd receive as a reaction he wasn't sure but he didn't want to ruin everyone's good time, especially his own.

They looked down at the mass of people below. Theo nudged Draco's side and pointed far across the room, where a girl all curves was standing on a table. Her shirt was almost off and she had on large white boots as she danced provocatively. A group of boys stood watching and whistling; Theo looked overjoyed at the sight. Draco's thoughts wandered back to Granger instead. He didn't try to push away the image like he'd done weeks ago when he saw her in her office and had similar feelings. Things were different tonight.

Draco scanned the room as Theo talked of the beautiful girl dancing. There was no sign of an Egyptian anywhere nearby. He figured as much, as Cleopatra had probably steered Granger to the furthest place from him. Or to get punch, both were logical options. Several soccer players were gathered around the keg, holding up some freshman. A dance floor moved as one in the middle of all the chaos. A few more girls joined the one on the table that Theo talked of, many of them trying to make eyes with any passing person.

The place was significantly packed with bodies and the room was growing hot. Only a few minutes standing there with Theo and Draco felt a sheen of sweat on his back. A swell of body heat from the dancers was making the windows foggy. He continued to think about how to approach Granger when he saw her next.

After a few silent minutes of overwhelming heat, he bent to grab a flask tied up in the back of his sandal. Looking for relief he took a refreshing swig before passing the bottle to Theo. After he took a drink from it, he looked back to Draco surprised.

"You brought Elvish Ice to a college party?" he asked, raising a brow. It was technically a medicinal potion for burn victims but that didn't stop people from selling a different grade of it in Knockturn as booze. It was like the opposite of fire whiskey, making your whole body numb instead of full of heat. Draco's features were still dark and drawn, but he chuckled.

"Well, you never know when you might need to cool off," Draco said suavely. "But my other flask has nothing but fire whiskey and in this heat," he looked around again, wiping sweat from his neck.

He had Granger still on his mind, the memory of Erin's laughter really threw him. It was haunting in the way she probably knew about all his and Granger's interactions. She was Granger's roommate and Granger seemed like the type to bottle up emotions before exploding to her friends. He wondered if she talked about him, he wondered what she'd say...

Theo nodded understandingly before answering. "True. But what about that whole 'Lord of the Underworld' thing. Shouldn't you be all flame and fire and loving it or something?" Theo gestured to his black outfit and crown. Draco shrugged and the material fell further down his hip but he didn't care; it was hot enough that if his chest and ribs were out, hell if half his body was showing he didn't care. And it was.

"Shouldn't you be looking for a queen to steal down into your Underworld, eh?" The statement was a great pun and Draco laughed at his friend.

"The crown and my attitude are quite enough to convince anyone, don't you think?" he drawled, making fun of himself. He leaned on the wall and stretched.

"Are you sure? Because I think your queen is getting stolen right now actually, but it's not by you." Theo made to point with his spear then and he almost fell over the rail instead. Draco snagged him and pulled him back by the scruff of his toga, placing him firmly next to him again.

"You are beyond drunk already, aren't you Theo. And what are you on about besides reciting myths about me that I already know?" He looked around the crowd when Theo had secured footing, looking for any sign of Granger or Blaise.

"I'm pretty sure he's trying to sabotage you," Theo said, pointing lazily with his hand this time to a far corner of the dancefloor. A girl and a boy were talking and Draco recognized the wings on Blaise's crown and Granger's hair in ponytails.

At first he was angry; he wouldn't admit he felt jealousy once again come over him. It was nothing, it couldn't be. _Well, it could because she's a witch,_ he thought then. _I'm not jealous though, I just want… I don't know._ He tried to relax, his grip on the railing fairly strong.

He would be wrong in saying that she wasn't attractive tonight and he didn't want her. But he told himself it had to be because she was a witch and that was the only reason. He wanted physical release, easy enough and she was it.

As he looked back down at her, her white shirt was tight under the blue necktie, she looked tempting. _Some outfit for a teacher's assistant,_ he thought interestedly. He took another swig from the flask in his hand, his eyes squeezing shut from the cold of the liquor and in preparation for his next move.

He felt the last traces of heat leave his body. The liquor was quick to work but another kind of heat found its way slowly to him despite the chill in his throat. He thought about how much he liked messing around with her and how much he liked pissing Blaise off. He could do both well and they'd made it only too easy.

"That's nothing, you know Blaise doesn't talk to her like I do," Draco insisted. "but all in all, you are tempting me. Do you think I should mess around with that? Blaise usually fucks up enough on his own," he motioned to the two then, a playful smile on his lips like he were thinking of all the terrible things he would say.

Instead, Theo laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Shit mate, that's not very nice. He gets loads of girls. I just like pitting you two against each other, it's hilarious!" he said apologetically. "Besides, don't you have a bet or something still going, I was just fueling on that. Blaise likes her a lot doesn't he?"

If Draco was taken aback, he didn't show it. He looked politely intrigued at Theo's apology instead. However Draco was actually very taken aback, not because of the actual apology, but because of what Theo had said in his apology. Theo reminded Draco of a very important fact that he had completely forgotten about: _The bet._

"So, are you going to go over there and break Blaise away from the little muggle? You have to sleep with one, don't you? I figured it would be her. You were pretty pissed that day in the library," Theo taunted. He was laughing at the idea of the two pureblood death eater sons fighting over a muggle girl. It was just too much. Plus, he knew how much his friends loved fighting over girls.

But Theo's words meant more to Draco than Theo knew and soon he grew quiet with contemplation. He needed a muggle to break the bet tonight and he had already long since planned on using Granger just to piss Blaise off. Now, knowing she was magical, he wouldn't have any problem trying to get her home and convincing Blaise he slept with her. Hell, he **wanted** to sleep with her- _whoa, did I just admit that about her of all people? I think I've had too much punch…_

He looked down at the remnants in his cup and swirled them around before drinking the last sip. He hoped it would steady his brain, but it wasn't enough. _She had looked pretty fine back there though..._ her long legs were wrapped up in knee highs and he sucked in air looking at them.

Draco didn't really _have_ to tell Blaise and Theo about her being a witch, at least not yet. Once he'd slept with her tonight and gotten his wand back from Blaise in the morning, he'd tell them. That way, he'd have his wand back before they had time to yell at him. This bet was simply made for him.

With the full realizations of the night ahead of him, Draco turned back to Theo, handing him the flask. "Blaise is in for a real treat tonight," the smile still smirking across his face. It was obvious he was up to something. "I'll catch you around in a bit Theo and thank you really, for reminding me of the bet." He turned to go down the stairs then.

"Where you off to?" Theo called.

"I have an assignment I forgot to hand in for my lit class," he joked, before disappearing into the mill of people on the dark dance floor.

…

Hermione took another sip of her cup, glancing over Blaise's shoulder to look around the crowd for any sign of Erin, Ginny, or Luna. "You didn't answer my question," she said then, keeping control of the conversation. She let her eyes scan the room once more before turning back to the boy in front of her. _No sign of blonde anywhere either, that's good._

Blaise looked at her happily. "My buddy Theo is friends with the soccer team's captain, Dean. Has boxing class with him and we've been hanging out with them all year actually. Quite a crazy group. Fun, but crazy," Blaise explained.

Hermione found it odd that students she had never seen at the University before would suddenly befriend the athletes, whom were notoriously clique-y. She shrugged her shoulders anyway, _people that drink together and still like each other sure make good friends,_ and she looked his outfit up and down. He looked handsome.

His white toga was draped along his torso and he had wings on his laurel. "Do you know who I am?" he smiled like it were a challenge, holding out a hand to show the outfit in whole. _Of course I do, I'm not daft._

His lack of confidence in her mythology skills didn't go overlooked. But they should have; Hermione could have easily responded with a witty twit about how Hermes was the Greek God of Commerce, Travelers, and Thieves. And she had every plan to do just that when she was rudely interrupted by the sounds of a drawling voice from behind her instead.

"A Black Zeus, I doubt people would believe that one, hence why you got the shaft as Hermes," Malfoy's voice was strong and loud over the sound of the music. He stepped into view behind Hermione, a little closer than she was expecting. The heat and fog in the room mixed and created an eerie looking sight before her.

Malfoy stood tall, his pale skin almost translucent in the strange light of the room. His toga, which was all black, looked like smoke stretching across his muscles and the way he had tucked it to fit his body was much more revealing than Blaise's. Half his chest down to the top of his hip was sticking out, his arms completely bare except for two large, shiny looking cuffs on his forearms. The fabric was drawn at his hips and cut diagonally down to his knee, a thin metal band sat as a belt on his waist. He had on a laurel atop his white blonde fringe. Hermione gasped as she saw it was made of bones instead of leaves. And they appeared to be on fire.

 _Now that's a clever trick…_ they appeared almost real but it was obvious his hair was unburned. He smiled catching her look at him, a slight curve had settled on her lips and she appeared to only just realize. She made her face suddenly unreadable.

"We can't all BE the actual God we're impersonating Drake," Blaise looked instantly annoyed at the approach of his friend. "And I don't appreciate the race comment, from you of all people." He glared before he quickly unknitted his eyebrows. Hermione looked at him quizzically, unsure why friends would be so hostile upon meeting up at a party of all places. And did they really have issues with race between them? She found it hard for them to claim to be such good friends if so.

She turned back to the conversation, missing Malfoy's eyes blatantly wandering down her entire body before pausing on the skirt. He raised his eyebrows interestedly as he spotted the ascot. Hermione clacked the heel of her boot and he instantly snapped to attention, smirking. A rose colored blush came to her cheeks and she hid it behind stark features. She was determined to not let him get to her. _But that fucking toga,_ she sighed looking into her cup to try and distract herself. She straightened up and stood tall.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to the God of the Dead," Malfoy looked at Blaise with a pout. He looked almost cute and Hermione had to mentally curse herself for liking his joke. But Blaise was right, he made a great Hades that was sure. Hermione knew from personal experience. "Anyways, for the God of Messages here's one for you. Our lovely buddy Theo is dying to see you and requests your presence upstairs."

"What does he need me for, I doubt it's that much of an emergency, we're at a party for Merl- Pete's sake," Blaise was resilient; his other intentions were obvious and he clearly didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone with Malfoy. He didn't want to be responsible for ruining her Halloween and, judging by how he was eying her, he didn't want Malfoy to get any ideas either.

"I don't know but he sounded pretty urgent," he gave Blaise a look that he shouldn't keep Theo waiting and Blaise let out an enormous sigh. Malfoy continued to smile.

"Fine, fine. Play nice you two," Blaise said. "I'm going to regret this," he muttered under his breath as he shuffled away through several dancers and headed for the stairs. Theo was no longer hanging out on the landing and Malfoy watched as Blaise went looking for him, disappearing into the hall. He knew Blaise might come right back after realizing it was a set-up so he didn't have long to chat with her. But he wasn't going to leave her with nothing.

"And what do we have here? You know, no one likes a teacher's pet," he said, his voice changing. With Blaise he had been casual and a little spiteful; now it was almost heavy with temptation as it reached Hermione's ears. She faltered, her mouth dropping open into a small, shocked 'o'.

Malfoy began to walk around her, about to leave. He had done what he needed and he knew she'd make an effort to find him again. As long as he got away before she came up with something. "You probably visit the Underworld quite frequently, so I don't doubt I'll see you soon, you can tell me your comeback then since you can't seem to formulate one on the spot," he mentioned laughing as he turned to leave. It was enough of an insult that she would have a good retaliation, and he hoped to be able to play off of that.

She narrowed her eyes, desperately trying to think of something before he left. _God, he really is a prat! Always the snide remarks_. But luckily for her, her own wit caught up and she was quick to respond. She pushed the images of his muscled features away so they wouldn't cloud her judgement. "I still have control over your grade, I'd watch it if I were you. You might be Sterns' favorite, but you're far from mine," she stated threateningly, gaining her courage back. She stood up straight and crossed her arms.

Malfoy turned around, he was several feet away from her. He was smirking something dangerous as he spoke quickly, "We both know that can't be true."

Hermione watched the white hair disappear into the crowd. He took the stairs two at a time before reaching the landing, grabbing a hold of the wall as he disappeared behind it. His head popped back into view to look back; he caught sight of her disbelief and was satisfied, the wicked grin got even bigger. Then he was gone.

Blinking Hermione chugged the rest of her cup down. She wanted to find Erin and Luna and Ginny, but they were nowhere in sight in the room. She began to walk off her frustration, not wanting to admit her mind was filled with thoughts of him, both good and bad. The good were starting to win. She had to find Erin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; I don't own it. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.** ** _"_**

 **Here's the prompt I worked off of (again, I don't own the prompt, thx to whoever does):**

 ** _A modern AU where Hermione never got her letter._**

 ** _Hermione Granger had always been odd. Terribly brilliant and scathingly ruthless, her perception of the world had made her the object of schoolyard jests, her peers doling out punishment by virtue of her strangeness, children terrifying in the dangerous manner only children are capable of. And so alone in her room, she made her dolls move by her will. That was years ago._**

 ** _Now all grown up, she becomes, almost obsessively, determined to prove that more than will, magic reinforced her spine. And by God, if there's a whole different world out there, Hermione will be part of it - even if she has to claw her way in._**

 ** _So when a pretty boy shows up, all sharp lines, and light hair, and the snark of old rich, she is drawn to him and the mark on his arm. He is well-versed in manipulation and the sorcery of the dark, and when he offers her a hand to beckon her come, she takes it."_**

 ** _Happy Halloween ;)_**

Draco waltzed down the hallway, looking for Theo. He had gone out to the balcony after his interaction with Granger, catching some fresh air. Now, twenty minutes later he was back in the house. He kind of hoped Blaise wasn't with Theo. Draco was unsure of how Blaise's reaction would be when he realized that Theo wasn't actually looking for him. Luckily enough, after sticking his head in the fourth door at the end of the hall he found Theo, Blaise-less with a pitcher of beer in one hand. He had an arm around a redheaded girl dressed as Pippie Long Stocking and they stood at a table with several others. They appeared to be playing a drinking game.

"Aye Theo, just the man I'm looking for!" Draco called. "You sure got your hands full fast." Theo smiled as Draco looked around impressed. The red head was hanging on him but his grin was from ear to ear; it widened further when he spotted Draco by the door.

The whole interaction with Granger happened so fast but Draco's mind was still reeling with it. He had come upstairs to give her some time to cool off, he had really pulled out a dangerous card calling bluff to her insult, but now he only wanted more. He felt like he needed to cool off. He approached the table and observed the game going on.

"Yo Drake! Meet these lovely ladies. We got Hera and Athena straight from Olympus," he gestured to two girls on the opposite side of the table. The girl dressed as Pippie played with one of Theo's curls on the back of his neck. The Goddesses had on white sheets that matched; one covered barely half of the girl's large chest while the other's skirt drifted suggestively up her thigh.

They were okay looking, but not as gorgeous as the girl who was Aphrodite had been. Draco had passed her on the stairs and if he hadn't still have Granger on his mind he would have stopped to talk to her. She eyed him aggressively when they passed and brushed against him. She really was the pretty one of the bunch, they chose that right at least, Draco concluded.

He nodded over to the girls, who both smiled sheepishly back. "Hello ladies. Might I let you know that while I don't frequent Olympus, the Underworld has its perks," he curled his lips on the words and the girls smiled, recognizing his character and staring at his chest muscles as he spoke. They clearly believed him; the girl dressed as Athena almost missed her turn.

He turned back to Theo, not caring what else the girls did. He wasn't interested in them anyway. Theo looked at him, trying to gauge Draco's good mood. "You're awfully chipper. I take it Blaise must be pissed off in a corner somewhere?"

"You know, I'm not sure where he went off to, since he headed upstairs when I told him you were looking for him," Draco mentioned casually. Theo shook his head.

"Why must you insist on involving me?" he asked, in a kidding sort of tone. "I'm the innocent bystander that just gets to see the hilarity of you two brawling it out over some mug- _girl."_ The people around the table weren't paying enough attention to Draco and Theo's conversation so they missed hearing Theo's little slip-up. If the redhead heard, she didn't care, as she continued to stare longingly at Theo's features as he talked.

"Oh come on, what fun would it be if I didn't throw you under the bus as well?" Draco laughed, before he walked over towards the set of couches lining the opposite wall. An old, chipped looking piano sat shoved in the corner. Draco took a step towards it, but was halted when he heard an "oof" from the floor. He looked down to see his left sandal almost on top of the kid call Patches.

He was lying on the ground eyes closed and when Draco had stepped on him, he looked up blinking and confused until he recognized who it was. He waved a lazy hand and spoke, his words coming out slurred. "Aye Draco, watch out for sleeping Gods," and he chuckled to himself a little too enthusiastically. Draco laughed and looked over at the piano again.

"Does anyone play?" he asked seriously, wondering if the instrument was shoved in the corner and out of the way for a reason. Patches snorted, rubbing his eyes.

"It's a glorified coffee table in this house, furniture is few and far between and mostly broken," he looked up proudly. At least he rolled onto his side. Draco wanted to respond but was interrupted.

"Go on Draco, don't act like you don't want to show off," at Theo's words Draco gave an interested smile. Usually Draco hated when Theo or anyone put him on the spot, especially something as stupid as playing the piano; yes, it could be an admirable skill and he liked it a lot, but his father had pretty much broken several of his fingers when he found out his mother was giving him lessons. _Good times_ , he recalled sarcastically. He was nine. That's how he learned the Muffliato charm at least. He contemplated the situation.

"Hell I didn't know you had actual likeable traits," Patches said from floor. "Go on, here's some encouragement," he said, holding up a joint. Draco chuckled as Patches held up the joint and Draco walked over to take it.

"Yeah well, I try not to let too many people see that side of me, I have a reputation to uphold and all," he laughed but the seriousness that edged into his tone made him sound dangerous and threatening; he lit the joint in his hand. His reputation reminded him that he had once seen Granger as a filthy muggle. While he knew she was magical now, it didn't make it feel slightly strange going after her. She was acting as a muggle and all.

The redhead looked over and gave him a slightly worried look. He walked over to the piano and inspected it. Pumpkins littered the top and the open door looked littered with cups. It was in bad shape but he might be able to play it. He sat, brushing off the keys unsure why he was doing it. A piece of old notebook paper with the remnants of an assignment was sitting on the music stand. He placed his fingers to the keys and soon a haunting, slow melody came to hang softly in the room.

The black haired girl with the bunny ears from earlier stood next to Chad on the other side of the game that was still going on. When she spotted him at the piano, she quickly walked over. She approached the armchair closest to the piano and smiled. She laid out on the chair with her legs over the arm, trying to look sexy, clearly impressed with his display of talent. They weren't nearly as long and thick as Granger's.

She leaned in seductively. "You perked my interest. Everyone loves a good musician," her voice was annoying and it was an obvious attempt to get his attention. He laughed right in her face. _Oh now she wants to talk, pft!_ She looked away embarrassed, unsure if his laugh was in jest or insult. She stayed where she was anyway.

Draco relaxed, piano had always been a safe place for him to escape reality despite his father's aggression towards it. Probably because of his father's aggression towards it, but whatever. This time playing he realized he couldn't escape reality as his mind wandered back to Granger and the Ravenclaw emblem he was sure he had seen on her skirt. That was curious for sure. And when did she suddenly become an image of attraction in his mind, instead of the snooty little muggle that yelled in his face?

…

Hermione walked with intent to find her friends; she knew they must be around somewhere close and as she made it out to the patio she spotted Erin. It was much cooler outside and Hermione was happy for the relief from the heat the dance floor, and possibly Malfoy, had created. _And I'm wearing hardly anything,_ she thought, eying a girl dressed in a costume covered in thick feathers. She shook her head feeling bad for her.

"You know, just because you're the queen and all doesn't mean you can just run off!" Hermione huffed, still flustered from her encounter with Blaise and then Malfoy minutes ago. Erin looked delighted to see her; she stood with a girl dressed as a ballerina who waved. When Hermione reached them, she recognized the girl in the tutu and understood. It was Erin's ex-girlfriend. "Ah, a good reason to run off though," she said smiling.

The girl gave a lovely smile and hung onto Erin's arm. Erin, who still looked beyond excited, stared at Hermione like she did nothing wrong. "You seem…. Flustered. I left you with Hermes but something tells me you found someone worse," she chided. Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, the one everyone probably wants to avoid," Hermione mentioned, thinking of him again. Erin just laughed, seeing Hermione lost in thought, most likely of him.

"Okay, so spill. What did Hades do to you that you're now looking murderous but also lustful?" she asked, feeling confused in her own question. She sipped on her drink. "I mean, I saw what he's wearing so that explains the latter."

Hermione gawked, not believing Erin would claim such an outrageous thing about her. She protested, "It explains nothing. He's bad at making togas, that's literally all I can come up with."

"Well you're lying then girl. You can't say you didn't see those shoulders," Erin smiled at the girl on her arm, who giggled at Erin's compliment. Hermione bit her lip, having nothing to counter; she could only picture his arms and there was no argument against it. He was very attractive and she couldn't not admire him as he stood in front of her. Her breath felt a little heavy and she took a second to think.

The alcohol now coursed through her system. Despite the fact that all she could think of was his costume and all she could definitely see under it, she remembered her original curiosity for the boy in the black toga. He was always so mysterious and he had that air about him that he was better, knew more. She wanted even more to figure him out, now that he had taunted her so temptingly.

"I keep telling you to just act like he's any other boy, don't give him the time of day and he'll come crawling to you," Erin laughed. "Always works. Blaise looks like a sad puppy every time, you did that in like a week." She pointed out this fact and Hermione was brought back to the present. She burst out in laughter when she recalled what Erin had just mentioned.

"What? You know it's true. Now what did he say to you, what happened?" she asked, still curious for what exactly went down with Hermes and Hades moments before. Hermione explained everything from Blaise flirting with her and Malfoy scaring both of them to Blaise leaving. When she finished, Erin looked at her absolutely overjoyed.

"You do realize how perfect this is?!" giggled Erin, almost shaking the ballerina to the floor. She let go of Erin's arm and took a few steps to the side. She wanted to give the friends some space. "You aren't going home alone, that's for sure!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but felt a wave of adrenaline come to her senses. She hadn't gone home with anyone in quite some time, but she wasn't sure she would give that satisfaction to Blaise or Malfoy for that matter. She usually got to know guys a little better first, and with Malfoy's unpredictable anger she wasn't sure that was a good idea.

"You don't know that for sure," Hermione determined, looking stern. In the back of her mind however, she couldn't stop herself from feeling excited. And she had already accidentally narrowed down her choices as the blonde prat once again came to mind.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Teach," Erin didn't sound at all serious and she avoided Hermione's swatting hand. Erin moved behind the ballerina for protection and the girl laughed, hugging her. Hermione was suddenly reminded of something.

"Um, now where are Ginny and Luna? Didn't you take them with you earlier?" She felt bad she had only just noticed their absence. Her voice was a little worried they weren't in the general vicinity.

"Um, well they were here… I know Luna said something about wanting to explore and I figured if they were together, I saw this one and well… it wasn't that big of a deal right?" Erin looked apologetic at Hermione, who frowned.

"Erin they could get lost in that house, plus they're freshman! We should go look for them," she said, pulling Erin by the arm. She looked like a dog trying to sniff them out. She glanced around the lawn one last time. The ballerina trailed along, holding Erin's hand.

"Well they're not out here. Let's go," and with that, she lead them straight back into the heat of the house.

"Well I could have told you that…" Erin whispered rather loudly to the ballerina before they disappeared back inside.

…

The door to the piano room was already open, but that didn't stop the boy in the toga from smacking it against the wall anyway. The table of people still playing the game paused, all eyes on Blaise as he walked in. His aggression didn't stem from the empty cup in his hand, but more his own personal reasons as he looked from Theo to Draco and then back again.

"Well I was supposed to be looking for you Theo, because I was informed you were looking for me. But you seem a bit preoccupied, hm?" Blaise said harshly, approaching Theo at the table. The redhead next to him averted her eyes.

"What are you on about Blaise? I wasn't looking for you mate," Theo mused, too preoccupied with the girl, who had clung onto his shoulder. Blaise rolled his eyes before walking over to the piano where Draco was still playing. Theo turned back to the table and gestured for the game to continue. People looked confused but carried on.

Draco smiled when Blaise reached him. "Oh, I must have misheard. Well you found him anyway, nice of you to join us again," Draco drawled, his voice light against the music. "Want a drink? There's a bottle under the coffee table that I'm sure Patches could get for you. You look like you could use one," he looked over his shoulder at the boy still laying on the floor. He waved when he heard Draco say his name. "You alright still Patch?"

"Aye, I'm golden Hades. Fucking golden as the gates of Olympus," Patches shouted. Draco laughed; the girl with the bunny ears eyed Blaise interestedly.

"Where is she then, Malfoy? Did you yell at her, insult her again?" Blaise argued, keeping his voice level so others didn't hear. They had been spending so much time doing research or actual schoolwork that Blaise and Draco hadn't talked about Hermione in weeks. He was assuming the worse; he really had no idea what Draco said or if he'd talked to her before the party. He really was an arse most of the time.

"Oh nothing, I just gave her a little food for thought, she's fine. Back with Cleopatra I suppose," Draco mused. He slowed down and took a hand off the piano, adjusting his crown. "It's still lit right? Nicely done I'd say," he stated proudly, gesturing to the still flaming headpiece.

"You're a git you know," Blaise said turning away from him. He grabbed the bottle from under the table without help from Patches and took a swig before crashing on the couch in frustration.

"Cheer up mate, this night is just beginning. You should be happy I'm making an effort to talk to her. Maybe I'll win this bet of yours and I'm changing my ways little by fucking little," he gave a suggestive smile over his shoulder and Blaise sat up instantly. It was evident he had also forgotten about the bet; his mind was busy working over the details when it dawned on him what Draco was planning. He flinched, his eyes darting to Draco.

Draco looked back, comfortable and relaxed. He continued playing the instrument as Blaise finally spoke up. "You're lying. I don't think I believe you would sleep with a mu- someone like her. You aren't that comfortable yet. You know I like her quite a lot…" He sounded like he didn't like saying it out loud, it made him seem vulnerable and that was not something he was taught to be.

He had almost said muggle and Draco raised his eyebrows at Blaise catching his own words. "That's really quite touching Blaise, I didn't peg you as the sensitive type," he joked. "But you don't necessarily have to believe me. That wasn't part of the bet. I just have to prove I slept with one," he pointed out. Blaise looked incredulous.

Blaise dropped his voice so only Draco could hear. He sounded angry. "You're saying you'll put aside your prejudice just so you can have bragging rights over me?" Draco smiled like he agreed. Blaise looked away, like he was giving up the fight, too frustrated with Draco and the fact he didn't see something like this coming.

Blaise fell silent. He didn't know what to do because Malfoy continued to make things difficult. He really had no choice right now because Malfoy was notoriously stubborn; he set his mind on her and now they would have to fight over her.

"So what did you talk with her about, before I cut in I mean," Draco said casually, trying to get under Blaise's skin. Blaise studied Draco's relaxed demeanor, contemplating him. Was he really serious about sleeping with her? He appeared so aloof that it was almost convincing. It was still hard to comprehend, knowing Draco's past. Blaise stayed silent, not wanting to give Draco the satisfaction of responding.

Blaise didn't have to respond however, because only a second later, a girl appeared in the doorway peering in like she was looking for someone she'd lost. Her black boots clicked on the wooden floor and Draco glanced over. He smiled and went back to playing, pretending he didn't see her. He felt the anticipation of the whirlwind that was about to happen. The girl with the bunny ears followed his gaze and inspected Granger, who was now standing a few feet inside the door.

…

Hermione was walking down the second floor hallway, peeking into every room on the floor. So far, she'd only found two different couples who were going way too hot and heavy behind closed doors and a group of guys making a drug deal. She quickly left all three situations without a second glance; there was no way Ginny and Luna would find themselves involved there. She had sent Erin and the ballerina down to the basement, a darker dance floor that Hermione didn't want to venture in quite yet.

The one thing Hermione was happy about was that she hadn't stumbled upon Malfoy at all in her search for her friends. It made the effort she was making actually worth it without his interruptions. It was peculiar that Ginny and Luna would run off together and Hermione was growing a little worried that they'd gotten lost or stuck talking to someone.

The last room in the hall held promise, as the door was wide open and light flooded the wood panels on the opposite wall. Melodic piano music floated into the hall from the room and Hermione could hear voices speaking on the other side. She didn't waste any time walking right in, her heels making a louder sound on the wooden floors than they did on all the broken and wet linoleum downstairs.

A few people stood around a table in the center of the room and they looked up at her entrance. A boy in a toga looked like he recognized her, but Hermione had no idea who he was. She glanced around, seeing a small sitting area to the side with couches; both were occupied.

Blaise, whose back was to Hermione, didn't even turn to see who had walked in. She noticed him instantly even though she was only a few feet away. She didn't feel like having a chitchat about Malfoy since he had so easily deceived Blaise earlier. She looked over the heads of the rest of the people in the room, not noticing the piano stuffed in the corner or the person sitting at it.

"Oi, I think you guys have a visitor," a boy sitting in a toga called over to Blaise and Malfoy, and they both turned to look. Blaise's face held a look of excitement as well as worry when he turned, knowing Malfoy was probably amused all the same. Before Blaise could get a word in, Malfoy's voice was heard above the music. Hermione turned at the sound. She stared wide eyed as his fingers continued to move over the keys. She looked impressed.

"I told you you'd find the Underworld easily. Welcome home. You look tense, too many papers to grade?" he snickered. Hermione stood blinking. _Is he actually playing piano? I don't believe that one bit._

She shifted her features giving no implication of interest in him. She didn't want to appear too interested, despite loving the fact that both boys were now sitting in front of her. Blaise looked pleased. The girl with the bunny ears in the armchair looked from Malfoy to Hermione and back again several times, trying to figure out what was going on. Malfoy smiled as Hermione walked over to the piano with a smug look.

"I know, I know. It's shocking isn't it? It is actually me playing, I promise you," he said, playing a particularly complicated combination of notes. She pressed a few keys on the end to throw him off and he stopped short, turning to her. His grey eyes were piercing and Hermione smiled.

"I was looking for a siren and sphinx, seen them around anywhere?" she figured she might as well ask, it couldn't hurt if someone had seen them. That was why she was there. Blaise was agitated seeing them so close, so he got up and addressed the room for her.

"Aye. Anyone seen a mermaid or a gold cat hanging around anywhere?"

People looked over but no one said anything. The girl with the rabbit ears looked at Hermione with sabotage in her eyes. Blaise looked to Hermione, apology in his. He looked like he wanted to walk over where they were, but couldn't decide if it was a bad idea or not.

"They're obviously not here, don't you have some homework to finish?" the girl spoke up, laughing like a hyena. It wasn't cute. Her voice sounded weird in the silence of the room. Even the people at the table had looked over in curiosity. She looked at Draco with a seductive smile but he didn't care to notice. Hermione did, and she glared in disbelief.

"And what are you supposed to be, the fucking Easter bunny? I don't recall many black rabbits, but I guess it's fitting for you if you're here in hell. You two make quite the pair," Hermione said aggressively, gesturing to Malfoy and the girl. He chuckled like he couldn't believe her response. She knew she had stretched the truth; she didn't really believe they were a pair, but she couldn't believe she was jealous either. Blaise looked practically ecstatic that she had insulted Malfoy, albeit indirectly, and looked on with renewed interest.

"Cat fights are the best," Theo whispered over Blaise's shoulder; he had walked over to listen in. His whisper was much too loud to be counted as a whisper though, and Hermione and the girl heard him loud and clear.

"Shut it," Blaise actually whispered, hearing Malfoy speak up.

"Yeah and we aren't a pair by far," Malfoy said threateningly. He suddenly stood up, looking Hermione in the eye. He held her gaze for a quick second and then walked quickly away. He disregarded both Hermione and the other girl. He walked over to Blaise and grabbed the bottle from his hand, taking a sip. The bunny looked outraged at Malfoy's dismissal of her and walked over to the two girls dressed at Greek goddesses instead. They were still over by the table watching the entire scene. The bunny started whispering furiously at them when she reached them; they all stared bitterly at Hermione.

Hermione didn't care; they were bimbo girls at a party that were there to show off their bodies and drink heavily with plans to pick up a guy before heading back home. They were predictable and annoying, but they could do whatever they wanted to long as they left her out of it. She'd only let herself succumb to that style of partying when she was particularly stressed out and drank too much. She headed for the door.

Before she left she turned, looking back at the boys still by the couch. Malfoy smirked at her curiously, looking like he wanted to say something. She wasn't scared and gave an interested look back. "First books, then piano. You're good side is showing a little too much Hades," and she glanced at his chest, bare in the light. A scar ran across his ribcage disappearing behind the black fabric. It made him look all the more rugged in that moment and she turned to leave, desperately wanting to take a second glance.

…

Draco couldn't believe her audacity against the other girl. But he liked it, a lot. He couldn't get her sly smile out of his mind as she walked out and he definitely loved to watch her leave. He didn't know if it was because he had found out that she was a witch tonight that he suddenly felt so much more comfortable admitting she was attractive or because he actually had been attracted to her all along. He just knew she seemed willing to play along with him and that was motivation enough.

He sat down on the couch next to Blaise, who eyed him wearily. Blaise saw their interaction as evidence for what he guessed Draco was doing. And he was succeeding. "You can't tell me she's the cause of why you're in such a good mood."

"Oh of course she is, believe it or not. You talked about her so much and I don't know, something just makes me want her now," Draco sounded convincing.

It seemed as if the whole room got quieter. Blaise blinked in disbelief and Theo wasn't sure what he just heard. Draco had asked him earlier in the night if he could confund a muggle into thinking she had slept with him. That way, he had evidence of the bet for Blaise; he'd get his wand back. Draco was cunning and could make them believe his sincerity was real because it was. And they still looked shocked.

'But doesn't she like, hate you?" Theo asked, genuinely confused. Draco laughed.

"She complimented me back there, if I'm not mistaken," Draco defended then, reminding them of what she had just said.

"She kind of insulted you first," mumbled Theo in retort, but his remark was forgotten when Blaise cut in.

"I still don't believe you," he said suddenly, looking directly at Malfoy. Blaise bore into Draco, his eyes full of irritation. "You still show sights that you're not ready to sleep with someone… like her. I feel like you must be bluffing."

He wanted to see if Draco was lying. Something in his posture or his features could give him away, and Blaise studied his face. Draco kept his gray eyes neutral to everything, his mouth a line as sharp as his jaw.

"You don't have to believe me," Draco said again, articulating each word. "I'll prove it soon enough," his eyes were wicked. If he were faking it, he was doing a damn good job. Blaise couldn't take it any longer; he got up and headed out the door.

"Maybe you should go with him, make sure he doesn't do anything rash?" Draco suggested to Theo. Theo nodded a little worried and turned to kiss the redheaded girl before leaving. She lingered a little longer at his ear and he promised her he'd be back. Before he was out the door, he called back to Draco.

"What are you going to do in the mean time?"

Draco smiled. "Oh, I'll figure something out," he took his crown off and spun it on his finger. Theo laughed, disappearing into the hall. "Maybe show off some more of my good qualities." The flames crackled without burning his skin.

…

"Okay so we're still missing Luna and Ginny. And I might have just ran into Malfoy and Blaise upstairs," Hermione explained quickly, finding Erin on the first floor in the kitchen. She fought away a smile. She remembered the way he looked at her, and a blush touched her cheeks. _Why had that made her feel so good? Ugh no!_

"Wait, what?!" Erin said, tearing her eyes away from the door she was about to open. "Okay, spill. Now." She looked inside the room very fast and shut the door, finding nothing but a closet. She turned back to Hermione, looking eager.

"Okay so I just saw him upstairs and well, he was playing the piano and that's just so not what I was expecting to find, well of course I wasn't, especially it being him and all and-" she started but Erin immediately interrupted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down! He was playing a piano?! You've got to be joking, we are still talking about the blonde git from your lit class right?" Erin questioned, her eyes wide.

"Yes, I know! And then this skank girl was just so freaking idiotic I had to call her out," Hermione was saying, her voice tinged with jealousy.

Erin smirked. "Let me guess, she was all over him," she gave a look that said she would love to see Hermione in that situation, finally admitting a little something for Malfoy. She caught the hint of jealousy in her friend's eyes despite how much Hermione tried to cover it up.

"Actually no. But she definitely wanted to be. Too bad for her though, he did not want anything to do with her, wouldn't give her the time of day," Hermione was laughing but Erin knew better.

"You do realize he didn't go after her for a reason, right?" Erin warned, hoping Hermione realized his intention. Hermione smirked, clearly aware. She liked the idea that she was the preferred choice; for such a choosy person she couldn't help but be flattered, especially when he looked as good as he did tonight.

"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, guess we'll never know," she taunted, deciding to let Erin be mad for once. Erin pouted, not enjoying being in Hermione's place.

"You're nasty. Just because I pull shit like that doesn't mean you can. Now tell me, are you going to go home with him or not?" Erin was quick to jump to conclusions; Hermione looked suddenly flustered. She hadn't thought that far ahead, but now that she had provoked him back there, it was inevitable that he would at least come find her later. _Would I consider going home with him, after all the bad stuff he's said and done to me?_ She thought then, reminding herself of the seriousness of his hatred earlier this year. She frowned.

In her silence, Erin spoke again encouragingly. "Okay, but all things aside, you saw his fucking body! That should be reason enough, he's fucking gorgeous and I like girls!" A smile came to Hermione's lips without her even trying; Erin was completely and utterly right. "You don't have a choice, I'm going to make it happen now," she started heading for the door, where the ballerina girl stepped back inside. She held a cigarette in her thin fingers.

"So do we still need to find these girls? I mean, I feel bad if they're on their own, but we haven't even gotten to dance yet or anything," the ballerina said, looked reluctantly at Erin. She did have a point. Hermione glanced behind her and through the open door, where the living room of dancers still pulsed. The lights gleamed back and forth, flashing against pumpkins on shelves and around the furniture. It all looked so tempting.

"I mean, I don't like the idea of leaving them but…" Hermione said cautiously, not wanting to sound insensitive. But the girl was right and now, in such a confident and excited state, she wanted to get out on the floor too.

Erin couldn't contain her excitement. She grabbed the ballerina's hand. "I mean, I would love to get in there, you know me."

"Okay, okay," Hermione gushed then, making the decision. They would make sure to find Ginny and Luna eventually. "I need to make an outfit adjustment first, and then we are hitting that room," she said it like it was no big deal but Erin could tell it had something to do with the girl that had been trying to get with Malfoy. She snickered.

Hermione was feeling drunk and ready to have a good time. She loosened the necktie that was still against her throat and unbuttoned several of the buttons on her white long sleeves. She had Erin help her roll the sleeves and to finish it off she tied the bottom end into a knot, revealing her stomach.

She looked amazing, the perfect school girl look with much more sex appeal. She had secretly hated that she hadn't done it sooner; the bunny girl really had given her good advice, although Hermione disliked her delivery of it. Hermione stood back to give them a look of the final product, and they both looked stunned.

"Damn girl. You are killing me! This is gold, I'm telling you," Erin gloated, because she knew choosing Hermione's outfit would pay off. And it clearly was.

"Oh well that's grand, I'm sure the Lord of the Underworld just loves fire," she smiled seductively, really feeling like it was time to let loose. She had felt bold saying what she just had, but it was just Erin after all. Erin howled. Hermione took Erin's hand before she could respond and Erin followed in shock at the girl in front of her. She smiled wickedly as they reached the pulsing dance floor and pushed their way in.

…

Draco watched Theo go, putting his flask of fire whiskey to his lips and taking a sip. The hot liquid went down his throat and he felt alive. He walked to the piano and grabbed the half smoked joint still laying on the music stand. He went to the door, putting it behind his ear and headed down the hall. He got to the staircase, pausing on the railing to look out into the crowd.

Sure enough, he spotted Granger and Cleopatra, rushing into the crowd of people dancing around below. A girl dressed in a tutu followed closely behind them. His breathe caught when he saw Granger's newly improved outfit. Her tight white shirt was now tied around her ribs, her skinny waist glimmering in the eerie light of the dance floor. Her socks hit at the perfect height on her full thighs. Draco felt the rush of adrenaline to his fingers and hands and watched her spin around. It was mesmerizing.

He thought then of the Ravenclaw emblem and while it was potentially problematic, he ignored it for the time being. He was too busy watching her dance to think on it hard. The room's colors whirled around and Draco was buzzed. He couldn't stay up there any longer; he wanted to go after her. He took a breath before strutting down the stairs.

He walked around the dance floor, looking for the perfect moment to make his way towards her. She was in the center with Cleopatra and the ballerina, closely flanked by several groups of girls and boys alike. All were moving along to the beat and talking casually despite the heavy bass.

Draco found a path through several people that led straight for her and he took it. He was over her shoulder in a minute, but he refrained from actually reaching out and grabbing her waist, although he definitely wanted to. He felt himself suddenly turned on at being so close.

"Nice stunt you pulled back there, but we know that Blaise still won't let you go," he spoke in her ear and she seemed to pause, like she was deciding if she liked what she heard. Erin smiled wickedly, waiting in anticipation.

"And the girl with bunny ears is right over there, she's eying you as we speak," Hermione offered, turning around to look at him. "Maybe Blaise is the better option." He was standing close to her and she could see the flames turning color in his hair. They reflected his anger, turning a dark red-purple.

Hermione looked even more baffled by this strange unburning fire, but tried to ignore it. The black sheet around him looked tight and she blushed at seeing his hip bone flash in the light. There was a jagged splotchy looking scar across it and she looked up quickly. Her lips were pouted.

He smirked when he saw Granger looking at him. He grabbed her hand suddenly, pulling her to him. She felt a flood of adrenaline course through their clasped hands. "She's eying you as well, if I'm observing correctly. Let's give her something to really look at, shall we?" He didn't give her a chance to respond; his other hand slid on the bare skin of her lower back and she felt goosebumps raise. Her mouth hung open a little in surprise at his actions but she didn't push him away. Erin blinked in shock wanting to observe, but the ballerina pulled her away in a dance of their own and she was lost in the crowd.

Hermione was left alone with Malfoy. She looked at him, his angled features standing out in the candle flames with deep shadows. Her hand felt oddly comfortable in his and he led her surprisingly gracefully. He started dancing a type of waltz like they were at some gala not a college party. She let him lead her, too confused to really fight it.

Seeing her surprise he laughed. "Just another good quality you can add to my list," he raised his eyebrows to see if she would agree. She rolled her eyes at his self-absorption. _Well, he still has that snark,_ she mused. But it was kind of lovely this way. She'd never had a guy actually know how to dance like this. She gave him a small smile, unsure to trust him.

"It's still a very short list," she said coolly, watching him as they moved. His gray eyes swirled with their movements, still holding a level of mystery. He kept the rest of his face neutral and calm. She blinked a few times to bring herself back to reply. _Okay so I might be more tempted than I thought,_ she tried not to think about his shoulder muscles under her left hand. She glanced down his chest and had to remind herself to breathe.

Draco felt her fingers move slowly on his shoulder and fought a shiver. _Fuck._ She had looked pretty hot from afar but now, up close and flushed from dancing, she looked absolutely gorgeous. He was only realizing this now, with her in his arms, and he grew excited. He put himself back in the conversation, looking amused at her accusation. "Now how can you know something like that? I'm the God here, only I know everything."  
"You're Hades, I'd expect a short list of nice qualities from you," she said giving justification. She glanced at his left arm, where the gold cuff on his forearm covered the tattoo she knew was lurking underneath. A small bit of ink stuck out at the top near the inside of his elbow. She gave him a mischievous look.

"Scars, hidden tattoos, and an attitude to match. Your own friends made you the God of the Dead. What must you be hiding?" She felt bold deciding that if he was going to be nice like this, then she would be the complicated one. Besides, the scars were a bit disconcerting. What was she really getting involved with?

Her voice was sultry despite her seriousness, so he wouldn't keep hiding what he was hiding. She looked at him, her eyes holding onto her boldness. She had caught him off guard and she was proud of it. He was drawn in by her voice but looked away, annoyed.

He looked back at her, seeing the intrigue in her eyes that was unwavering. "Why are you so suddenly interested in me?" his voice was deeper, more threatening. She felt a little hesitant, her confidence falling the tiniest bit. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're the one hiding something."

He studied the unreadable look on her face. Suddenly, she broke into a smile and laughed, letting go of him and taking a step back. He looked angry at the separation. "You'd love to know what I'm hiding, wouldn't you?"

She gave him a smirk reminiscent of his own before turning back into the crowd of dancers and pulling Cleopatra and the ballerina away with her. Cleopatra looked back at him and winked. She didn't really think she had anything to hide, but at least she could try to fool him into revealing something about himself.

Draco stood, unsure of what just happened. He couldn't be sure if she had been flirting or not, but he was impressed nonetheless. Impressed and pissed off. No girl stood up to him like that before. It was beyond attractive to him. Yet, he didn't like how far she was willing to dig into his past. That was a red flag.

He suddenly realized how warm it was getting in the room and how she had disappeared. His desire to know where she had just run off to didn't help and soon he was walking to the front door. He paused, grabbing the door frame and glanced around, not seeing her anywhere. He headed outside, more than just aggravated.

…

Hermione giggled into Erin's open arms as she escaped from Malfoy, leaving him to choke on his words. He looked utterly annoyed and it made Hermione beyond excited. He deserved to get a taste of his own medicine.

"Oh my God, what did you say to him?! He's going to murder you," Erin gushed, the girls running out of the dance floor masses. The expression on his face said everything. They headed for the stairs. Hermione started to detail the interaction, but stopped herself short. When they reached the base of the stairs she looked back over the crowd to see where he had gone. He was a flash of purple out the door.

She followed Erin up the staircase and at the top landing, Hermione paused. She stalled and looked back at the front door. There was a large window next to it, and she could just see him standing outside. The ballerina tapped Erin on the shoulder to get her attention because Hermione wasn't following them.

"Oi, you were trying to escape, weren't you?" Erin questioned, motioning to the hallway beyond with a tilt of her head. "What gives?"

Hermione felt the alcohol through her system and took a deep breath. She was hesitant. Half of her really wanted to go back downstairs. It wanted to walk outside and see if he was angry at her, see what he would say. And she didn't know why. The other half of her was worried he might really be hiding something bad and she was taking a risk.

But thoughts of boys and togas and alcohol and rippling muscles all rolled around her mind and she was almost giddy with the thought of his touch. They had only been dancing and the electricity between them had been something different. She couldn't ignore that.

She looked up at Erin, making her decision. "Erin," she said slyly, "I'll be right back. Maybe."

…

Draco stood on the porch letting the resonating heat from the dance floor and his own annoyance dissipate. He stood on the far corner his hands on the railing. He pulled the joint from out behind his ear and let it burn on his crown before placing it in his mouth. He took a long drag letting the smoke rake through his thoughts.

Did she know who he was? Did she care about his past if she did? He didn't recognize her from the Ravenclaws in his grade and he couldn't picture her at any Christmas or Halloween Feast. Maybe she wasn't actually who she was dressed as; maybe she was an exchange student from Beauxbattons who had a friend or cousin in Hogwarts? How did she get the uniform? It bothered him not knowing.

He took a deep breath of the fresh air, catching a glimpse of several boys in suits walking out the door. He was reminded of her uniform when he saw one in a tie; the outfit looked beyond fuckable on her. It made him want to mess around with that necktie of hers. _Fuck_.

He took another big hit from the joint and let the smoke cloud billow out slowly from his lips. A few girls on the other side of the porch watched him. He glanced over to see two girls dressed as cats and a girl dressed as a storm cloud and was disappointed.

Most girls he got with were fairly superficial and not too bright. Sure, they were attractive but usually not someone he wanted to have a conversation with. But she was far from that. She actually provoked so much more from him and he couldn't understand it. Her ability to get under his skin enhanced her good looks and it was starting to drive him crazy.

His head was swimming. Her wicked smile came to the surface. The worried part of his brain began to seem fuzzy as he recalled the feel of her bare skin on his hand. _How long has it been since I've actually had sex?_ He wasn't sure, but damn he had to break it tonight. He just had to. The worried thoughts began to fade.

Busy contemplating, Draco didn't hear the door open behind him. Hermione peaked out, holding her breath steady. She felt both relief and eagerness when she spotted him on the far side of the deck. She watched him shift his weight and the hem of his toga just touched above the back of his knee. His legs looked strong, like he spent a lot of time on his feet. Her adrenaline was high and she needed to make a move before he turned to see her spying.

She was convinced to go after him after seeing just how well she could sway his emotions. He had been happy go lucky one minute and fierce and defensive the next. Hermione liked knowing she was the reason and now, she would keep pushing her luck. She felt the rush of alcohol in her system. _This is probably a bad idea but…._ she thought suddenly before she went for it.

She took a step towards him and the floorboard under her heel creaked. He heard it and turned, locking eyes with her, uniform and all. He blinked to take in the sight. She walked slowly forward, looking right at him. Hermione was nervous, but she looked determined. She was flushed from the sheer heat inside the house and the cool air of the porch was making her cheeks pink.

The way she moved towards him made him stare. He leaned his back against the railing unable to stop the smile from approaching his lips. He coughed on the smoke, forgetting his troubling thoughts all together even though she had been the cause of them. She frowned when she saw the joint in his hand.

"You shouldn't smoke, it'll fucking kill you," she said rather harshly, choosing to stand with considerable space between them. She acted like she was catching some fresh air and she looked out over the front lawn. Two kids were playing ladder golf and another two were looking at pumpkins, practically falling over each other. She smiled at them, the alcohol pumping through her system, keeping her more at ease that she thought she could be.

"I'll take my chances, a little green never hurt anyone," he said, blowing a puff of smoke right towards her. Of all the things that could possibly kill him, and he could think of plenty within the walls of his own home, he doubted smoking pot would do it.

She smelled the marijuana in his breath and instantly realized what he meant. She rolled her eyes, maybe that's why he was in such a chipper mood. She just looked at him quizzically; he seemed to have forgotten their disagreement from earlier because a smile played on his lips before he spoke. He couldn't stop it; he was turned on by her just walking towards him. She bit her lip.

"You're remarkable really," he laughed, watching her. "You study me as if I'm a book you can read in an afternoon." Draco couldn't look away; he didn't know why she had come back, but he liked that she had. She stood, one of her hips cocked to the side and he looked her up and down before taking another hit. She looked defensive.

"Was that a compliment I heard? You're full of surprises tonight," she laughed, but she couldn't hide how flattered she felt at his words. She looked out over the lawn again, avoiding eye contact. _Maybe I'm not the only one that can sway emotions,_ she thought before continuing. But she pushed on. "You are by far the most interesting book I've tried to read in a long time."

Draco was surprised that she returned the favor and he couldn't help but put the charm on. "Tried is correct, it would take ages to read me thoroughly though, I'm a special edition. So the only stories you are getting tonight will be that of Greek myths and drunken escapades," he lowered his voice and Hermione looked over at him, intrigued. She held her breath, waiting for him to continue.

He spoke like a gentleman and Hermione couldn't look away, like he was about to tell her one of these stories of his. And he challenged her with his words. "I'm still looking for my Persephone. With this dismal selection of people, maybe you'll luck out. How do you fancy the Underworld will treat you?"

Hermione felt her face get hot; she knew exactly who Persephone was, Queen of the Underworld and she knew how Persephone had acquired such a title. So he had plans to try and get her home with him tonight. Even in her intoxicated state she hadn't truly expected him to go that far. She thought maybe he was playing around, especially after he had danced with her earlier it had seemed he was only doing all this to piss off Blaise.

But now, he seemed very serious. He seemed interested in her and she wasn't sure she would stop him from turning his intentions into reality. He looked amazing and his words, while dangerous, still left her wanting more. She stared back at him, trying to read the expression lingering in his eyes. She watched him lift an arm over his head and stretch and she lost it. His muscles moved eloquently for how subconsciously he had done the action but it was enough for her.

In a second she closed the gap between them and Draco's breathe caught in his throat. Up close, he could smell her perfume and it made him a little dizzy. He watched her dip her head to the side and for a second he thought she was going to kiss him but she brought her mouth to his ear. If he was serious in taking her home she thought maybe he would act on it. She felt exhilarated by their closeness. _Hopefully he will act on it..._

She made her voice soft. "Since when did you think you could convince me to go home with you?" It was threatening, but there was a hint of temptation in her voice that she hoped he couldn't resist. He exhaled a cool breath and it smelled of booze and smoke, which Hermione would hate on anyone else. But on him it smelled fantastic. _What the fuck is wrong with me?!_

Draco felt her excitement and nervousness and felt his own adrenaline spike. He was starting to see her game, see her try to draw emotion and action out of him. He smirked; he was going to make her beg to come home with him.

 _Two can play at this my dear,_ he thought viciously. Hermione thought she could see him trying to hold back a laugh; it made her even redder with stubbornness.

"Technically Hades kidnapped Persephone," he said calmly, looking sideways to analyze her face. He could see her pouting. "But I imagine you'd oppose to that." She looked amused instead of scared.

His voice became that much more alluring then. "However, I play by my own rules," he paused, making eye contact. "When I want something, I usually get it. _I'm_ not opposed to stealing in the slightest."

Hermione's thoughts went racing;he was very good a reading people and he seemed to know Hermione would be impressed with his knowledge of Greek mythology. She could almost overlook the whole 'stealing' thing if it hadn't been for her competitive nature. She had to counter and she thought up a retort in no time; one that she figured would wind him up even more. She smiled.

"A Plus for the storyline, but a C for character development," she said, moving within inches from his lips. She felt her pulse quicken and she glanced to his waist, where the metal belt barely left anything to the imagination. She was instantly aware of how much she wanted to be on top of him. She felt almost embarrassed as the thought rushed to her brain.

He gave another wicked smirk before speaking. He seemed to understand she was trying to hurt his pride and he used her words to his advantage. "Now that's no fair, I didn't know we were being graded, _professor."_ Draco couldn't control himself, knowing it would drive her wild if he acted on their closeness.

"Maybe," he said slowly and quietly, "I'll earn myself some extra credit." As she was about to say something he pulled the loose necktie around her throat, bringing her lips directly to his. He could feel her smiling as he kissed her and she soon gave up the fight.

Hermione was laughing before she realized Malfoy's actions. She couldn't believe he called her 'professor.' It was just weird but she had kind of enjoyed hearing it from his lips. It felt intimate and sensual.

His hands slid around her so fast she almost flinched if it weren't for the way he grabbed her lower back and pulled her closer. Draco continued to kiss her, his tongue fighting its way into her mouth. She obliged and slowly moved hers over his lower lip, making him shudder.

He hadn't realized just how much she had turned him on, but now, as they leaned against the railing on the porch, he was in a frenzy. Months since he had any physical contact, he was now quite aware of her chest pressed against his. When he turned his head to kiss her neck, he saw black lace peeking out.

Lost in the moment, she felt the fabric of his costume shift between them. _Fuck, he's fucking huge._ She let out a sigh into his ear and Draco's knees almost buckled _._ His mind couldn't come up with any other thoughts besides how good she felt, but he tried to focus. He didn't want her to think he forgot all about their little game and he wanted to tease her some more before he really let her have him. Besides, he wanted to see if this little snog was enough to make her want more. He figured it would and he gave her ass one last squeeze.

He broke away from her suddenly, smirking widely at his accomplishment. Hermione stood, taking a second to catch her breath. She brought a finger across her lips wiping a little spit and Draco had to look away before he jumped to snog her again.

 _No, I won't kiss her again… at least not yet,_ he told himself, trying to keep a level head. _Gotta keep her guessing,_ he turned and walked toward the door.

Hermione looked shocked; as surprised as she was with how passionate his kisses had been she was even more surprised when he pinched her and even more so when he pulled away. She could feel his longing in every touch, but he managed to stop himself. It was an impressive feat, she thought, probably because she had been so consumed so fast that she herself had not wanted it to stop.

In seconds he had torn away from her and why was he now half way to the door? _That's just not fair!_ She practically pouted in her own took one step but hesitated; did he not like what she had to offer now because she was about to go crazy on him if that was true. More than arrogance, she hated getting led on, and now he was doing both. You can't just be completely consuming and then stop. Fuck that. Her irritation came back.

He was reaching for the door when she spoke, her words holding more bite to them than she had anticipated. "Why am I not surprised?"

A sly smile crept onto his lips that were still wet from hers. He turned to her, his eyes fierce. "Oh, don't get your knickers in a ruffle Granger, at least not unless I'm the one doing it. I'll be back or, if your willpower gives, you'll be finding me. I need another drink and I promised Theo a game. Besides, you need time to change my grade. That should suffice as my extra credit, right?" he winked before vanishing.

…

Hermione stood as if she had been slapped in the face. She was only now realizing how cold it was getting outside without him so close to her and she shivered; from the cold or what just happened, she couldn't be sure. _He thinks he's hilarious,_ Hermione thought viciously. A small voice in the back of her head reminded her that she had laughed and she closed her eyes trying to rethink everything.

She recalled the events that had just occurred and had to slow down and review them again before she realized what had happened. _Malfoy had kissed me and-_ she thought about it again. _Oh my God, Malfoy did more than just kiss me. He full on snogged!_

It was definitely worth it as she remembered him pinching her ass. _Damn, that was risky, we were right on the porch,_ she mused. His image was still stuck at the front of her mind. She didn't have to have anyone tell her or see it in a mirror; she knew her cheeks must be red.

She took a deep breath, still staring at the door where he had left. Would he really find her later? She wasn't sure and she really wanted to know if he would. It had been a pretty passionate snog. She remembered then what he said about her knickers and her blush reddened further; she felt the heat rising through her body. She was pissed he ran off so quickly. She wanted him back.

When she had been pressed up against him she had felt hot, the alcohol heightening her arousal. The feeling hadn't gone completely away and it was what led her to the door. She paused before she walked back inside, fairly certain she might end up finding him before he found her. She grabbed the door, felt a tinge of magic on her fingertips and she smiled, disappearing into the masses. Hades was nowhere in sight.

…

"Is that- ?" Theo was trying to ask, too in shock by how much Draco's good mood was showing on his features. He looked like his old, pompous self and was overtly cheery as he entered the kitchen. He was drunk and high and riding on the experience of moments ago. A small smear of reddish lipstick hung on his lower lip and Theo stared at it.

"You snogged her. You actually snogged her!" Theo stumbled to get the words out. "Oh, Blaise is seriously going to kill you now, Merlin this gets better and better!"

Draco could only laugh, too impressed with himself to explain. He wiped his thumb across his bottom lip, looking at the reddish tint left on it. Her lips had tasted amazing. He hadn't really had any idea where he was going; he had only left her to run her curiosity ragged. He liked the idea that she would come to him because she just couldn't stay away and he made sure that she would do just that. Judging by her response, she definitely would. He just had to be patient.

He jumped up to sit on the counter, Theo watching his every move. He had an arm draped around the redheaded girl from earlier and it appeared she was holding his hand. He looked comfortable so Draco shrugged; Theo could do what he wanted with who he wanted, he didn't care. He faked a yawn to hide his smile but Theo noticed.

"Oh come off it. What'd you say to her? What'd you do to her?" he chided, knowing Draco wouldn't be able to resist bragging. "You look like you just got fucked by five girls at once."

There were several other boys gathered around the kitchen who had been talking with Theo before Draco had arrived. They were mostly from the soccer team, so they had sort of been watching the scene unfold as well. Although, they obviously had no idea of the whole magic part of the bet they all listened in anyway, seeing the two best friends rally for a the same girl.

"Oh Theo, you know I don't kiss and tell," he scolded playfully, looking around at everyone looking at him. Theo gave an incredulous cough at this, but Draco ignored him. He smiled, his crown a brilliant orange sunset in the gloom of the room. "So I snogged her, what's it to you?" he said casually.

He really didn't need to go into detail, but then he remembered they still believed she was a muggle. The shock that was still settled on Theo's face now made sense and Draco laughed even more. "Okay, okay. I just, you know, riled her up a bit. She loved it, much like Pansy's inability to resist any word I say to her."

Theo chuckled. "Where is she now?" Theo looked suddenly amused, trying to gauge the situation. The girl next to him swayed to the faint music that floated in from the living room of dancers on the other side of the wall. A few of the boys lost interest, but Chad and one other boy in a toga were still looking delighted to further see the bet unfold.

"Oh, probably on her way to find me I suppose," Draco mused, leaning to see past the stairs to the front door. He couldn't make anything out and was kind of disappointed. He was just now realizing the absence of her next to him and he had to admit, he missed it even if they had only been intimate for a few minutes. Theo looked like he was not sure if he truly believed him, but shook his head still interested.

Draco sat on the counter, looking around for any more alcohol, half because he wanted it and half because he was a little worried at how much he seemed to crave her. Seeing her as a muggle for so long and acting like one here at this party, it was a little unsettling when he stopped and thought about it. He decided to distract himself. Theo looked apologetic as he showed him his empty cup.

"Aye, have you seen Blaise anywhere lately?" Draco said then, remembering their other friend.

"He said he needed to cool off," Theo said, and pointed up. "Third floor balcony. He went up there after we played that game with Dean, so I wouldn't worry. We lost so we drank quite a lot and Dean was with him."

"Ah good, he's no fun when he's too sober," Draco laughed, making Theo chuckle. Blaise had always been a little uptight, but he was still their friend. Draco was still willing to die for the kid despite stealing the girl out from under him. There was nothing left here in the kitchen for him so Draco hopped off the counter and began to head towards the patio.

"Now where are you off to?" Theo asked, not wanting to lose his friend again, but he could tell Draco was eager to find her again. He snickered. "On your way back to her I presume?"

"Nonsense," Draco said too quickly; Theo smirked. He made to smack him on the arm and grabbed for his empty cup. He stole it and walked towards the door.

"So if I see her, direct her towards the doors of hell, got it," Theo laughed and Draco disappeared.

…

Hermione was moving fairly quickly through the crowd; her thoughts spun around as much as the people in the room, the levels of intoxication hitting full force. Hermione giggled when she looked up at the table on the far side of the room where girls were still dancing; Erin moved dangerously close to the ballerina girl as they danced and it appeared like several guys and possibly one or two girls were egging them on.

She stood up on tip toe to wave, hoping to catch Erin's eye. Erin gave an obnoxious hand wave, winking and smiling when she saw Hermione on the edge of the crowd. She turned back to the ballerina when Hermione heard the icy voice at her ear.

"And why aren't you up there with them, hm? Now that would be one hell of a show," Blaise seemed significantly drunker than when Hermione had first seen him earlier on in the night. When she turned, he was swaying slightly and he held a suspicious smile. She was put off by his snide words; normally Blaise was really sweet. She'd never heard him sneer quite like Malfoy used to and it was unbecoming on him.

"I don't get up there because it gives guys like you too much satisfaction," she challenged, and she watched as his eyebrows went halfway up his forehead. He rolled his eyes.

"So what? Aren't I worth it? Much better than the rest of the Gods by far," he gave a dazzling smile and on any other occasion it might have worked. But instead, Hermione snorted at the circumstances of her time recently spent in his best friend's arms.

She was starting to see just how similar the two friends actually were, rude and cruel but with just a touch of charm to sound enticing. They obviously never got with any intelligent girls. _Well, Malfoy just did,_ she laughed to herself thinking it before addressing Blaise.

"You two talk so alike it's insane," she stated between laughs, thinking back to Malfoy's own cockiness. It was much more becoming on Malfoy than Blaise, even if it was such a horrible trait. Whether she felt that way because it was true or because she was currently turned on because of Malfoy, she wasn't sure. She gave a slightly apologetic smile because Blaise seemed to really like her. Her thoughts were elsewhere despite how handsome Blaise was and how nice he normally could be. She thought of Malfoy's hand on her waist.

Blaise still looked eager and he reached out to touch her shoulder but it didn't do anything for her. She didn't want to hurt his feelings but she shied away slightly; he caught the hint. He looked away, annoyed with both her words and her actions. He really didn't want to be compared to Malfoy at the moment.

"Well our fathers are very close, old school mates," he began. "That made us friends by default, brothers practically, the way we were raised." He chuckled darkly, like he were recalling old memories; his features held a tinge of sadness underneath, like the memories were not something to be spoken of. Hermione wondered why, a slight chill finding its way down her spine. The scars?

"And we were raised to a different standard than most," his voice was steady but low now. Hermione shivered a little. "Whether that's good or bad, I'll let you be the judge."

It was Hermione's turn to look away; she felt uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had turned. _What does Blaise mean, a different standard?_ She thought quickly. _Do I even want to know that answer?_

She didn't have time to think any further though, because a hand found its way around her waist and pulled her close. She froze, feeling a tickle on her neck as someone caressed their nose against it. She blinked quickly and realized it was Malfoy, before he turned her towards him so he could kiss her. It was quick but fierce and Hermione blushed sharply when he let her go. Blaise stared, livid and disbelieving.

Malfoy was laughing, his arm still around her. "Now Blaise, don't make me look bad I've been so nice all night," he said. Malfoy looked down at her again and pulled on her tie, sliding it around her neck slowly.

Hermione smirked back at him, looking for more kisses. Her body had practically melted upon feeling his touch again. But Blaise's explanation came back to her biting and she paused; _should I be stopping him though?_ She thought suddenly. Blaise had just hinted about some weird things from their past but wouldn't talk about them. Blaise was practically warning her and the look he gave her now said just that.

She was intelligent enough to know better but at the same time, she couldn't shake the feeling there was something different about Malfoy that just made him so alluring. The guy who had once been the bane of her anger now seemed to draw her in like no other. She wanted to know why he was the way he was, even if that meant some dangerous things from his past. She was so turned on that it seemed to confirm her own desire to go home with him. She blushed into his shoulder, not liking Blaise's eyes on her.

Blaise looked like he wanted to speak but couldn't find his voice. Malfoy waited, seeing if he would. Blaise stood there, gaping at the kiss he had just seen and how Hermione was not flinching in his arms; she appeared to be comfortable, a phrase Blaise would have never used in context with his best friend under normal circumstances.

Technically, it was a big step for Malfoy, kissing a muggle. Blaise couldn't believe his eyes, yet he couldn't help be furious that Malfoy went after her of all people. He knew full well how much Blaise had been trying to charm her, he knew he wanted to take her home tonight. The anger was building. Malfoy finally broke the silence.

"I knew you'd be speechless, but I told you, there's just something about this one," Malfoy gripped her hip and she sucked in air before cursing herself; she didn't like him referring to her as 'this one.' It was an undermining term and there was no way she'd let him believe he had so much of an upper hand. She pouted, she'd get back at him for that later that was for sure and his smile looked like he wanted her to.

Blaise couldn't comprehend what was happening. He looked pissed and then uncomfortable and then annoyed. He didn't know what to do and, on the verge of exploding any second, he wanted to bolt. He cleared his throat, trying to find the right words.

"I tried to warn you, don't say I didn't. He's by far the worst of us," was all Blaise could muster before he turned to leave. His voice was rather threatening though and hung in the air as Hermione watched. Blaise took one last look at Malfoy, anger in his eyes, before he left. He pushed past him, running into Draco's shoulder much harder than necessary and then he was gone.

...

"Was that really necessary, I already felt bad for him," Hermione whined, looking back to where Blaise had disappeared. "He was right you know. You are the worst and I haven't even met that other kid you're always with."

Malfoy laughed, kissing her neck. When he made to suck behind her ear, her thoughts about Blaise started to melt away. "Oh yes, Blaise wouldn't lie about that. And neither would I. But you see the thing is," he mused to her and she couldn't help but smile. She narrowed her eyes though, trying to decide if he truly was into her as much as he claimed. "I doubt you need to care about my past when the present is so much more enticing."

He went to her mouth, this time deepening the kiss so it held much more intensity. Hermione, taken by surprise once again, fell into his arms easily after realizing what was happening. His hands crept down, getting under the ruffle of her skirt. She tensed before pulling away just enough to speak.

"So you're staying true to your word," she murmured, referring to his joke about her knickers from earlier. He didn't seem to remember at first and he paused, looking confused. Hermione loved the sight. She laughed before she felt him yank on her panties, pulling them around so it made her squirm. He snickered, obviously now remembering what she had meant.

She decided to take advantage of his relaxed demeanor and started kissing his neck. She heard him choke before the sounds of laughter were replaced with a moan. Her hands were around his neck and she pulled on a lock of hair. His hands continued to move on her ass as they snogged.

When they pulled apart after a few minutes, Hermione looked at him with a sense of desire that didn't go unnoticed. Instead of acknowledging it however, he bent back to her neck. "Just don't forget," he mused, pausing to bite her a little. The smallest moan came out of her lips and Malfoy loved the sound. He didn't continue speaking, he just let it resonate in his ears, his lips hovering over her throat. He wanted to know what that moan would sound like at full volume.

"Don't forget what?" she asked, trying to sound innocent. Malfoy chuckled against her skin. He pulled away before he went any further, looking at her. His pupils were dilated and the gray just rimmed the outside in a softer way than she'd ever seen. She stared back curiously, fighting a smile.

"Don't forget that Blaise's room is right across from mine. I intend to make you moan louder than that," he said quietly, waiting for her response.

Hermione instantly felt her need to kiss him. She didn't bother formulating a response because she actually liked the idea. She wanted him to devour her and make her scream. She licked her lips, "I'd like to see you try," she mused and she felt his fingers on her waist. One of his hands moved towards her ribcage, his thumb catching a little under her bra.

In seconds, Malfoy let go of her. He gave her one last kiss before taking her hand and she followed him to the front door. Hermione didn't know where they were going, but they were leaving. She watched as he pulled it open to the fresh air and noticed the purplish bruise on his neck that matched the flames on his crown. She couldn't wipe the smirk off her face as they walked out into the night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate/co-harry potter fanatic/literally one of my best friends is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

 **I'm so sorry this chapter has taken so freaking long to get out to you guys. I intended to get it done right in time for the holidays but alas, too much work applying to grad schools and with the holidays that i just couldn't manage. Hopefully it will make you happy to know that i'm already halfway done writing ch10 and i'm hoping to get it to you in two weeks' time!**

 **Thank you all so much for the positive reviews. Special thanks to allyourrain, for their lengthy but awesomely critical review of this fic. I appreciate every ounce of help to improve and make this fic what yall want.**

 **To answer a few questions allyourrain raised:**

 **-Draco and Hermione were incredibly ill tempered to the point of it being over the top in the last chapter because they were drinking. A lot of people get a temper after they're intoxicated and I believed it made sense for what Draco's been through and for Hermione as pent up aggression from not fitting in all her life. Sometimes her strict control of her own feelings gets away from her.**

 **I'm realizing now that I worded the bet incorrectly, it honestly makes no sense (drinking wine and writing can be awesome or deadly, and in this case it was obviously the latter) and so I will go back to edit chapter 5, where the bet is introduced, so it actually makes sense. Ch6, 7, and 8 will go through minor editing just to make sure the bet has continuity all the way through.**

 **Otherwise, thanks so much for your interest in this fic thus far, and enjoy! please keep reviewing!**

Hermione stared at the large townhouse, whose steps they were now ascending. It looked a little too extravagant for a college house; there were nicely kept rose bushes in a garden around the front walk. The stairs looked like swirling marble and the front door was flanked on either side by two ornate, obsidian peacocks. It was ridiculous.

She couldn't focus on the outside long though because Malfoy pulled on her arm. She was up the steps and through the door in no time; she didn't even see him get out the key and un-turn the lock. When she looked around, she was in a dark corridor that appeared to open up to a vast living room. There was an enormous, elegant looking couch with a wooden coffee table in front of it; a magnificent fireplace roared in the pit beyond. A staircase went up in a brilliant arch, disappearing to the back of the house.

Behind the couch stood a desk in the back of the room and across from it was a grand piano. Hermione snickered when she spotted it. _Guess he really had been playing if they have one in their house here,_ she mused to herself. The room was green, reflecting the Slytherin common room, not that Hermione knew what that was. It made Draco feel at least a little bit more at home. This house had been one of several that Draco's father mindlessly purchased to stay in when he traveled for work for the Ministry or for the Dark Lord.

He had easily broken his father's wards so it couldn't be traced, but Draco wondered if they'd even checked; they had hundreds of houses and apartments they owned around the globe that Draco could have chosen to hide in. They'd never realize. He walked up behind her without her realizing, holding the flask from his ankle in one hand.

They had been trading it back and forth the whole walk home, when he had taken it out for a quick pick me up and she saw the fire in his eyes. He hadn't expected her to care that it was fire whiskey, but she'd seemed to never have heard of it before. Strange, he thought, for a witch. He turned her around quickly with his free hand.

Hermione was drunk and when he turned her around, she had to blink hard to refocus her gaze. The smirk she was met with was one filled with desire and Hermione was quick to pick up on it. He had her in his arms in seconds and she practically cried out at the way he was moving his hips. She was suddenly very aware of how turned on she was. She wanted him just like any other hook-up and for how long it had been since she'd slept with anyone, she was definitely beyond eager. However, usually those hook-ups didn't include complete bastards that liked to insult her a lot. Oh well.

 _You're only sleeping with him because he's hot, it's fine, and you're drunk and- it's completely normal,_ she told herself as she broke away from him, tasting the mingling fire from the whiskey on their lips.

 _Besides, I've never been with a bad boy. S_ he smiled slyly when Malfoy looked at her, confusion arching one of his brows. She eyed his sharp jaw line that looked like marble in the light of the fire. _He really is hot, isn't he?_ She thought as she sucked in air. She walked over to the desk in the corner and hopped up onto it, leaning back to encourage him to follow.

Draco rolled his eyes at her tempting position on the desk. He had to admit, in that outfit and with the desk and all, she looked a complete knock-out. He forgot any qualms he had about her and set the flask down on the table too hard. He walked slowly towards her, filled with the excitement of **finally** feeling a woman at his touch again.

He walked until he stood directly in front of her. He put his hands on her thighs, moving them up agonizingly slow. When he yanked her towards him, he could feel her hips give a jolt. He bit his lip looking her in the eyes.

When he looked at her, Hermione liked what she saw. He was obviously eying the scandalous way her white shirt was pulled around her collar bone and how it was tied tight around her ribs. His hands were wandering her legs and her mind raced; it had been ages since she'd had a good shag, hadn't it?

And the alcohol was making things ten times easier, as she mindlessly reached her arms up around his neck. _Oh this… this is just great,_ she felt her body give another shudder as his grip on her tightened. She sighed.

He ruffled her skirt once more, plucking at her panties so they snapped. She yelped in a sexy sort of way that made Draco smirk. Hermione wrapped her legs around him tightly to return the favor and he eyed her suggestively. Before he could lean in for another snog however, the pair was interrupted. The sound of someone struggling with the lock on the door made them jump and they both turned.

"Curse these fucking muggles, no wonder they get caught doing stupid shit in the streets or don't even make it fucking home! Can't get a bloody door open," Theo was ranting.

He finally managed to get the key out of the door and looked up, noticing he wasn't alone. Hermione looked up, trying to hide her laughter. _Thank God it's not Blaise,_ she thought quickly. It was still rather funny that he couldn't seem to get the door open though.

Hermione hadn't heard Theo say the word 'muggle' so she hadn't flinched at the strangeness of it; instead, she blushed at being caught. Draco, whose hands were still holding firmly on Granger's thighs, looked Theo up and down.

"You seem to be in one piece," he said gruffly. He hadn't meant his voice to be so low, but given the circumstances he tried desperately to clear it. Theo just smirked at the girl in his friend's arms, recognizing her.

Hermione watched the boy, also in a toga and looking equally as hammered as she felt, walk a few paces before pausing to speak. "That I am," he started, "didn't know we were having an after party."

He stumbled over to the couch and flopped onto it before smiling at Draco. His laurel crown was half sliding off the back of his head as he put a hand behind it and he carried a flask of amber liquid in the other. It was nearly gone. He sat, staring, with a look begging a challenge. Draco looked smug.

" _We_ aren't. Us on the other hand," Draco stated, "I'll try to keep the noise to a minimum," Draco laughed and Theo looked both disgusted and amused.

Hermione gasped as Malfoy suddenly gripped her ass to lift her up off the desk. In seconds he was holding her, her legs wrapped tightly around him to keep from falling. She hadn't realized he was trying to make her stand so he could take her to his room.

He pushed her lightly to her feet snickering at her reaction. When she stood, she seemed to shake away the giddiness and he grabbed her hand. She could feel the eagerness in his pull and she gave a dazzling smile to the boy still on the couch.

 _No way am I letting Malfoy make me look like some ditsy slut,_ she sauntered past like she were on a runway. He followed her with his eyes and they could hear him laughing the whole way up the staircase. They reached the top and headed for the last door at the back of the house. She didn't hear him flick on the lights or a switch for the fireplace, but both sprang to life when they entered.

Hermione looked around, remembering the front of the house and the downstairs and was not surprised with what she saw. His room was large enough to be three separate rooms. An ornate rug lay under a magnificent four-poster bed to the left; a dark emerald bedspread was draped over it. To the right was a sitting area where two white armchairs sat in front of a roaring fireplace; bookshelves flanked the entire wall. A polished wooden desk was beyond, flooded with light from the French windows. It was something out of a fucking fairy tale and she wasn't sure if she should laugh or indulge herself. She wanted both.

Hermione didn't snap back to life until she heard the door click shut behind her and a lock turn closed. In seconds, Malfoy had grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the enormous bed. They didn't pay attention as they fell onto it. Hermione lay comfortably on top of him. He had her face in his hands and he began to cover her mouth insatiably with kisses. She followed suit, forgetting the room and the house and the boy downstairs passed out drunk and the boy still pretending to be Hades.

The toga around him loosened and Hermione gazed down at his exposed chest and hips. She could just see a small trail of fair hair that disappeared down in a bulge of black fabric between his legs and she let out a sigh. She grazed her hand down his chest to his hips and felt him tense at her touch. He looked like it was the greatest thing he'd felt in quite some time; his eyes shut in pure enjoyment. He let her continue, her hand moving in agonizing strokes a few more minutes before he responded.

He started pulling off her shirt, yanking aggressively on the tie around her neck. She gave a pout and he only pulled harder. She gasped before trying to take control again. Draco bit her neck and quickly flipped her, his toga coming completely loose. He was regaining control and his entire chest was now exposed, the other half containing a few, angling scars to go along with the rest. She reached down to touch him again and he tried not to look so effected; his jaw tightened when she had him in her hands.

He tried to counter and reached under her skirt, his fingers thrusting aside her panties to reach her. She moaned as he slid a finger inside, feeling her grow wet under his touch. He pumped his hand faster and she shifted her weight for him to go deeper. He curled his fingers suddenly and she groaned, not expecting the change. A ripple went through her body and she bucked her hips trying not to scream.

Draco hadn't expected her to break that easy but he wasn't complaining. It would make this all the more fun and he couldn't stop smirking at her as she tried to distract him. Her hands fumbled lightly before finding his hair. As she pulled on a loose lock to get his attention, the crown of flames sailed off the side of the bed. She made to pull her hand away but she wasn't quick enough; the flames licked her skin, but surprisingly they did not burn her flesh like they should have. She blinked at the oddity but was too caught up on his fingers that still moved inside her to notice. He seemed to rock his hips like he couldn't wait to get inside her made her squeal.

Hermione cried out, feeling overwhelmed at the pressure of his fingers against her and Malfoy moved his hand faster. It was a short orgasm that pulsed quickly through her but Draco felt it all. He was pleased and laughed as she breathed into his neck coming back to reality. Hermione heard him chuckling and bit his neck, retaliating. He sucked in air before pulling his fingers out quicker than she'd anticipated. She tensed and looked him right in the eye as she grabbed him once more, pulling at his briefs.

He got them off in seconds and his cock slid inside her. A short scream emitted from her throat. She hadn't expected him to be so quick and he pushed further in. His movements grew fast and aggressive and her breathing was heavy. Her blood pulsed in her veins all over her body as he pulled her leg up, sinking him deeper inside. She gave a sultry sigh at how amazing it felt and she could see his eyelids flutter.

Hermione looked down to see Malfoy's fingers pinch her nipple and her eyes shut as her whole body twitched. She was on the verge of another orgasm when she felt Malfoy pause and slow down. Her eyes flashed open to Malfoy's face coming closer and he was at her ear. Hermione struggled to keep her face straight with the agonizingly slow movements that were making her tremble.

"So you lied that first night," he whispered in her ear. Hermione looked at him with what she hoped was a neutral look; a slight shake was in her breath but she tried to play it off.

"Pardon?" She wasn't used to having conversations during sex, especially not while she was _still doing it._ He continued to push slowly in and out as he looked at her smiling, looking like he were perfectly at ease.

"You claimed my large ego was compensating for something, but now I have very obviously proved you wrong," he taunted, shoving himself hard against her between each word. Hermione's eyes reeled and her head lolled back against the pillows in ecstasy.

He picked the pace back up and she looked up at him. She still had on the tie despite her shirt and black laced bra being long disregarded. She momentarily forgot the conversation, unable to deny the pleasure moving through her.

She gave a soft moan before responding. She let a tempting smile fall onto her ruby lips. "I guess I was. But, you were still a fucking prick," her eyes flashed and she pounced up to him. She nuzzled into his neck before kissing it and grazing her teeth on his collar bone. He continued to pump his hips, his cock going faster.

She sucked on his collar bone until it turned purple and his breathing grew heavier at her actions. Determination filled her with confidence. It was his turn to writher and she wanted to make him come.

"And now, you're fucking my prick, literally. We're even," he stated, his voice growing thicker. She could feel him shake a little and was hoping it was getting difficult for him to hold out much longer. He twirled her nipple in his fingers and she smiled.

"Not quite even," she purred as he rocked his hips harder. She tilted hers and he sunk in further, almost moaning. She was starting to feel almost dizzy herself and it was an effort to keep her breathing even. She wanted to push him further and she thought she could do it. Her voice was heavy with want. "I've already got two on you. Don't you want to cum too?"

Draco's mind went even foggier as her words reached him. Her voice was sexy as it wound its way into his ears and the tightness of her was throwing him overboard. She widened her legs and he heard her almost laugh in his ear at how great it felt, going deeper and deeper.

He stopped smiling when he felt her twitch around him; it started quick and her hips moved a bit on her own, rolling a little in time with him. And it was fucking amazing. Draco couldn't remember sex ever feeling this good and he felt himself grow harder by the second. She moaned and the pitch of her voice sent a shiver straight down his spine. He was ready to explode.

All she could feel was the constant pumping into her, deep inside, and soon there was nothing else. "Oh _fuck!_ " she began to scream but it turned into a moan as waves of pleasure overwhelmed her. Her breathing became erratic and she moaned between catching air. She felt Malfoy, shoved hard inside her, pulsing as his whole body convulsed into an orgasm.

She bent her hips a little to the sides and Malfoy seemed to choke as he came even harder. He felt his cock throb and it wasn't until she wiggled her hips around that he felt the last, big wave shutter his body. It had been amazing; he hadn't felt such relief in ages. Jerking did not compare by far to a real woman.

He was on his back, looking at the ceiling spin in a drunken blur. A real, satisfied smile came to his lips; it had been the first time in ages and he turned back to look at the source of his good mood.

There, bare and unashamed, she stared at the ceiling as well. He watched as she seemed to count her breaths, like she were taking her own pulse in the silence. Then she giggled before she lazily pulled the sheet over her, turning away from him. He gave a curious look at her laugh and she slurred her words a little.

"B plus, nice work," she said sleepily. Her mind was still rushing around full of alcohol and orgasms and parties and blondes with tattoos. It was making her tired. It had been awfully great she had to admit, her body ached now that she lay in the softness of the multiple pillows thrown around them. She sighed happily at the luxurious sheets.

"Oh shut it that was certainly A material, moans and all," he stated, already getting sleepy himself. He got closer to her and kissed her cheek. Draco paused after doing so, realizing he'd never kissed a first time hook-up before. Not intimately like that. He tensed, seeing her relax.

He sighed, telling himself to relax too, it was just the alcohol and the rush of intercourse still fresh in his mind. Had to be. He waved his arm around the room to dim the lights and in the darkness he could feel his eyes closing before he even fully settled down next to her. He draped an arm absentmindedly over her as he drifted off to sleep.

Hermione began to drift off, feeling the weight of his arm coming around her. Whether it was because it was late and they were wasted or she appreciated his efforts and thought he deserved to have it there, she didn't know but she didn't move it. She just smirked to herself, her eyes fluttering almost closed, reveling in how content she felt. Right before she fell asleep, she looked down to see his left arm over her bare stomach. The tattoo was hidden but she could just barely recall seeing a forked tongue over the top of the gold cuff before her mind went blank to sleep.

…

The sun was just starting to peek through the balcony door, which was still ajar from last night. Draco hadn't closed the blinds let alone the door as he was too busy with Granger to care. That also meant that the glass of water he usually drank and refilled before he went to sleep sat empty on the bedside table. Now, as the first little bit of sun shone in it cast directly onto the bed and he was regretting the decision over the curtains. Then he felt someone move next to him.

Hermione blinked in the light coming in but couldn't bear to open her eyes fully. Besides the lingering taste of a fire on her tongue she could only taste a dry chalkiness that woke her up more than the sun. It was a nasty combination and she felt disgustingly dehydrated. She stifled a yawn with her hand and kept her eyes shut. _What the fuck happened last night…_

It took her several minutes before she braved to open her eyes. Her head ached and the room seemed to spin. It was large as she looked around, trying to piece together what she remembered. She could just make out a small sitting room and a desk in the corner that didn't look like hers at all, when she felt a cough. Her mouth had become so dry in the night and she reached for the bedside table automatically. When she was in her bedroom, she always had a glass of water on the nightstand. It wasn't until she picked up the glass and raised it to her lips that she realized it was empty.

Her eyes grew wide. Her fingers tightened on the glass. She wasn't in her bedroom; she wasn't even at her own apartment. She looked around again and was suddenly annoyed at the extravagance of it all. She paid no attention to the body resting next to her.

Draco was on his stomach but he stirred when he felt someone move next to him. One of his arms grazed her back and he could tell she got chills at his touch. He stretched a little before settling back down; his eyes were shut, not wanting to sacrifice any of his sleep hours to the early morning light or even the girl next to him. He felt like shit and he needed sleep too much as he could vaguely feel his stomach churning. If he woke up now, he'd be in severe hangover territory. Best to sleep it off, at least that was his tried and true mentality. He fell back asleep quickly.

When she looked at him, she saw his face relaxed for the first time. It surprised her and she now knew why she let herself crawl into bed with him. He had manipulated her with his kindness and with great sex, and all the alcohol didn't help. She frowned as if she wanted to forget what had happened so late last night between the same sheets now clutched in her cold fingers.

 _I can't believe I slept with him, I really did. Fuck._ She hated that she had given in to him; even last night, when he'd spoken of the first time they met, she had agreed with him purely for sexual release. _What the hell was in that punch last night to make me forget to be down right intelligent over who I take to bed?!_ She reeled, becoming angry with herself. A headache oozed its way over her eyes and she cursed.

She coughed again and the bitter dryness crept back. It was hurting from the feeling of the fiery liquor he'd given her and she desperately needed water. She glanced back over to Malfoy, wondering if he was a morning person. She highly doubted it and smiled, at least satisfied that waking him would piss him off. She reached a finger up to poke him and didn't care how hard she did it.

Draco groaned. "Water," he thought he heard from a scratchy voice behind him. It sounded like the person were underwater and he'd just fallen back to sleep.

Hermione's voice whined as she mustered up the ability to say the word out loud. She closed her eyes because the room was starting to spin a little and from the pain of talking. Her hangover felt like hammers to her skull the longer she stayed awake and realized it was there. If she could just get some water she'd fall back asleep to at least calm her hangover down some. Unfortunately, it was the better option to trying to sneak out without vomiting or falling over from dizziness.

Malfoy stayed silent and unmoving and Hermione grew impatient. _Useless. Just like in class._ She was starting to wonder what had been so terribly attractive about him last night.

She guessed it wouldn't be difficult to locate faucet she didn't want to go walking around his place alone. Definitely not. She recalled Blaise's warning with uncertainty at the truth of it but figured she'd stay safe. She spoke up a little louder, trying to sound convincing instead. When she said water again, it was louder and she gave him another shove, harder this time and he made a sound. It took a minute before she felt him shift next to her.

"You are demanding," she thought she heard him snidely mumble. It was the same drawling tone he always gave when he was annoyed but it held much less punch. He reached over her and she turned to see what he was doing. He pointed a finger at the glass and spun it to the left; it filled with clear water sparkling in the light sun. Hermione blinked in shock as the color in her face drained.

…

Draco didn't know where Granger was, but he was fairly certain she was talking. The headache he had throbbed and he hated how light it was even with his eyelids closed. He could feel was the weight of someone shift next to him and the movement of his own stomach in knots. He groaned before rolling onto his stomach, feeling her inch close. He could feel her breathe on his neck and he just made out the word, 'water.'

Draco was momentarily stunned by the sultry voice that came floating to his ear so early in the morning. He smiled to himself, still half asleep. He recalled the great sex and the school girl uniform and Granger. Still half asleep he vaguely wondered if she couldn't perform wandless magic since she didn't try to fill the glass herself. He knew from taking her clothes off last night she wasn't carrying a wand.

He finally reached an arm over her and lazily waved his hand, hoping he was awake enough to actually make the spell work correctly. The glass filled instantly and he dropped his arm around her.

"Demanding aren't we," he managed, but his voice was weak. He wanted to rouse her, see if she wanted some morning fun, but his hangover said otherwise. His stomach churned and the light still hurt his eyes. As he kept his arm around her he quickly lay back down, hoping he could sleep a little longer.

…

His arm fell across her back and hung there and she could feel his hand on her waist. She figured he must be dreaming or Malfoy really was that tired and hungover too because he didn't seem like the cuddling type. Especially not a one-time hookup cuddling type. That was all this was ever going to be, if she could help it and she figured in the new light of the morning he might feel the same way. Despite how docile he looked in bed, she felt suddenly, oddly uncomfortable lying next to him. She stared at the glass.

She blinked at the water, sparkling in the sunlight. It was most definitely full. She figured she must be dreaming too; she couldn't comprehend how it could be possible for the glass to fill itself at the wave of his hand. Well, she could think of a way, but _… but it most certainly couldn't, there's just no way it, it can't be_ _ **that.**_ The strangeness of her thoughts and what she'd just seen enveloped her in the vastness of the bedroom.

She wanted to freak out. She wanted to run away and hide because she was so scared. She had never actually had confirmation that there were other magical people and now she had that confirmation lying right beside her. Remembering the tattoos and the harsh remarks from previous encounters and the scars, she couldn't risk freaking out. She had to figure out what to do.

His face was turned away from her when she looked over. She could still hear his breathing and it was steady. Hermione almost laughed, still hoping, begging that she were dreaming. Because as much as she wanted to know she wasn't alone in this world with her own secret, magic-like powers, she did not think she truly wanted that from Malfoy. She needed to leave.

There was something in the way he acted the first few times they talked along with Blaise's warning that came back to her now. She was quickly realizing her stupidity of the previous night clouded with alcohol and skewed inhibitions. _Magic! He had actually just done magic?! What was going on?_

She reached out a hand to pick up the glass from the table. She trembled slightly but tried to go slow. She didn't want to chance waking him. Her nerves ran wild in her mind with everything that had just happened. But she had to see. She had to look at the water.

When she brought it closer and inspected it, she could find nothing unusual. She sipped slowly from it, in case it actually wasn't water. But upon feeling the relief flood her body at the touch of hydration she quickly stalled her worried thoughts. She gulped half the glass, feeling it invigorate her system.

She took a minute to catch her breath back, placing the glass back. When she moved, the hand around her waist tightened and pulled her back towards the bed. At first, she were utterly taken aback; he really did not seem the cuddling type. But suddenly, his hand tightened more than she expected in a kind of painful way that made her wince.

When she turned to look at him, Malfoy's once calm face was now pale and sharp. He lay still completely asleep, but it was evident his disposition had changed. Hermione palled. He wasn't dreaming, he was having a nightmare. And it looking like it was getting worse. Hermione looked frightened.

…

Draco twitched in his sleep. Another bad dream and this time it was a memory, but not the kind you looked back on fondly. Draco had snuck off to escape the chaos of a "meeting" that was going on downstairs in the Manor Dining Room. It was another call to arms to calculate numbers for their side again and Draco was in no way interested in seeing who they'd "convinced." A bottle of scotch made with pixie wing seemed much more appealing of a way to waste his night.

After two hours, the noise in the house died down and he managed to sneak out to the gardens. Despite how boring he found Herbology, there was something about walking the gardens in the Manor that made him feel better. He could get lost in the gardens, it was a way to escape.

He turned a corner once he had gotten beyond the gates and approached a trimmed hedgerow. He felt cold and drunk and in the shadows of one of the Manor's many pieces of art stood a hooded figure. It spoke and the voice sent shivers down Draco's spine, even in sleep.

Draco couldn't see his face but he didn't have to; his father's voice felt sharp to his ears. "No meeting for you, well I am surprised," Lucius said quietly. "I thought you were going to finally prove to me you're worth something."

Draco shivered as a frost spread quickly across the hedges beside him. The empty feeling of sadness washed over the entire garden and Draco knew there must be a Dementor loose. A pack of them were being kept on the far side of the grounds and sometimes Aunt Bella let one out to watch it perform the kiss on blood traitors they'd captured. She was by far the worst relative in existence. Along with his dad.

If he hadn't drunken half the bottle that was now currently on his night stand he wouldn't have responded. But, given the circumstances there was no way he wouldn't try to fight back.

"Must have slipped my mind," he said nonchalantly, lingering near the corner where there was a way out. He let his wand slip down his sleeve and into his hand, twirling it obviously. His father eyed it before walking right up to him.

"Difficult to miss when it's in your own bloody dining room," he raised a hand. Draco didn't have the coordination or reflexes at the moment to dodge despite having his wand; the slap made Draco stumble a little. When he gained his balance back, he blinked in the moonlight. Blood rushed to his cheek, stinging in the night air. _Oh Dad, always wearing such wonderful family heirlooms._ He caught sight of the metal ring on Lucius's hand as he twisted it, a satisfied smile on his lips.

Lucius's grey eyes, so similar to the ones that shone back at Draco in a mirror, gleamed viciously in the light. The combination of the slap and the smile made Draco want to punch him in the face. His father's long silver hair was in a ponytail on his shoulder and Draco suddenly wondered how mad he would be if he cut off his father's hair in his sleep.

"You need to watch your hands," Draco said instead, trying to sound threatening. But his voice fell short as his head spun with the mix of alcohol and being hit. He put his hand to his temple, rubbing it to ease the pain. "Who gives a shit if I missed a fucking meeting?" he asked. He watched his dad take a few steps away from him before he turned back. The tension mixed poorly with the late hour, heavy and dark.

"You know very well your intended placement within our ranks, you'd do well to mind it correctly," the voice sounded just like his, only hardened and older, as if it were made of lead.

"Make me," Draco managed to say and his whole body was on fire, one that started inside his mind. It itched and prickled and cracked at his skull and he hated the feeling. It was overwhelmingly intense.  
"I intend to do just that if I have to," his dad's voice felt painful and bitter and real. And it was in his thoughts that he heard it. He struggled to fight the Imperius now taking over his every muscle. The more he fought, the less control he had and he looked his father in the eyes before losing all control. He was smiling.

…

Draco flinched in his sleep violently and his arm around her released. He turned over, still looking murderous. The pain of his nails practically digging into her side moments ago had seemed so real, she had sworn he'd broken skin or bruised her or something. But there was nothing there. She blinked in the bright sun that streaked in from the window and followed it to where it fell directly on the blonde next to her. The sight bothered her immediately.

He seemed to mumble aggressive remarks and she noticed his eyes remained closed despite a scowl. Worried fear of his past crept back to her mind. _Blaise really had warned me last night, at least, he had tried…_ she thought of the blurry night and the magic and of a bad boy she wasn't sure she should have gotten involved with. She looked back at him still aggressive. She could just make out the words, "make me," hissing out of his mouth. He sounded as if he were fighting someone.

She looked over his firm muscles and he turned over again practically punching the air. He flinched and she shifted herself to the edge of the bed; she didn't want to get hit and that was as good as sign as any to get going.

Last night had been awful fun, but she couldn't shake the fact that sleeping with him now felt so wrong. The reality of him being magical was quickly taking over her mind and her heartbeat fluttered. She had thought his niceness and of the glass being filled; why would he just do magic right in front of someone?

The headache from earlier had not left her pounding head and as her thoughts raced all she could think about was getting out of there. She slid her legs out and scooted off, standing on the dark wood floors in the sunlight. It wasn't until the sheet dropped from around her that she realized she were still naked. _Disgusting. Where was I last night and who had control of me? Ugh._ She cursed her poor decisions.

 _He couldn't have done magic, I don't believe it, there's just no way, right?_ _ **Magic.**_ Her thoughts bubbled up quickly as she tried to gather her clothes as quietly as possible. She found her skirt, shirt, panties, and socks strewn across the floor all the way to the door.

More and more she was finding irritation at her own actions and she walked around as quietly as she could. _Magic, magic, magic, oh my God!_ She took one last look around, scooping up her boots and carrying them so they would make no sound. Her tie was still missing, but she heard Malfoy snarl and dressed quickly. She was too scared to linger and hurried out the door as fast and quiet as she could.

When it clicked closed she sighed, unable to fathom what she was now going to do. Her heart raced as she descended the stairs and slipped out the large front doors. When she felt the cold morning air bite her cheeks she ran down the lane and out of sight. When she was finally around the corner and a few blocks down she slowed to a stop, catching her breath. Her thoughts were as strangled as her breathing, _What the hell am I going to do?_

…

Draco sat upright, his body feeling sore and aching of magic. He was suddenly awake. He was breathing heavily and once he finally realized it had all been a dream he fell back onto the pillows in relief. He sighed, rubbing his head.

When he finally felt relaxed enough to get up, his body still ached and he felt almost vulnerable. _Imperius does that to people or so I was told… or so I remember,_ he tried to shrug it off but even in his own thoughts he could hear the spite he felt. He pulled on a sweater he found on the floor and grabbed the glass off the night stand before he went to the open balcony door. Midafternoon sun streamed in illuminating every step.

When he stepped onto the balcony he felt the real cold autumn air for the first time. It smelled of soaked rain and wet vegetation and he took it in in deep breaths. In only briefs and the sweater it was very cold and his head felt fuzzy. He set the glass down and leaned over the rail, his stomach churning.

He looked on the table where half a joint lay disregarded in a silver ashtray. He took it up and with a wave of his hand it was lit. He watched the puffs swirl in with the sunlight and hoped it would calm his stomach. He recalled the memory from his nightmare with caution. It was a particularly stressful time at the Manor and drinking behind his father's back was probably a terrible idea. That was first time Lucius used the Imperius curse on him.

It stood out now so clear because he worried sometimes, even now, if he'd feel that familiar notion of invasion. He would reveal their hiding place and screw everything over. He'd worked hard to become very skilled at Occlumency but it was still disconcerting. It was a scary warning stuck in a memory and this was the second nightmare he'd had in a week. It was a bad sign.

He looked as the smoke swirled around the glass before he saw the red stain of lipstick on the edge, pressed in a gentle outline. He picked it up and looked at it before looking back in his room. A black sheet wrapped around the base of one of the posters on his bed and on another, a ravenclaw tie. He smirked. Granger.

He had wanted something to get his mind off the nightmare and his thoughts mixed with the remembrance of liquor and sex. His hair whipped across his face and he thought of her. Granger had practically melted at his touch. She had fucked with him and then fucked him and it had been phenomenal, Draco couldn't lie. He had expected her to be all over him in the morning and fully was anticipating a good, long morning shag. And yet, he was alone.

A sharp knock on the door brought Draco back to reality and he turned to see Blaise walking toward him. He was dressed like he'd already been up for several hours and he sighed when he saw the bruises littering Draco's neck. He leaned against the rail next to Draco and waited for the lecture. He knew Blaise had probably heard Granger scream, she had been quite loud and Draco hadn't played nice at the party.

The anticipation grew too much and, when Blaise didn't say anything, Draco took it upon himself to do so. Besides, he did want to brag. "So... how was the rest of your night?" he said it casually but Blaise recognized the sarcasm in his voice. Blaise punched him in the arm. "What? I was being sincere!"

"Yeah well, I wish I would have actually gotten to sleep but alas, someone brought home a screamer," Blaise said, the agitation twitching his mouth.

"Ah, that is rather unfortunate," was all Draco supplied back, and he looked back at the trees, taking a drag. He didn't sound apologetic and his face looked indifferent. He was trying to hide his concern with his nightmares. Talking about a sensitive topic like Granger seemed the better option.

"Yeah, so maybe next time you can fucking do a proper Muffliato, you arse," Blaise said and he sounded strained; he was reluctantly holding Draco's wand out for him to take back.

"Well I'll be sure to do so next time," he mused, taking the hawthorn wand. He smiled at it before heading back inside. He walked to the sitting area where the coffee table had a fresh coffee pot ready to serve; a small potion vial that looked effervescent sat beside the overturned mug. Blaise followed Draco and looked confused at the array. He shook his head, guessing that being in one of the Malfoy's homes had its perks if you were actually a Malfoy.

"And, uh, will there be a next time, I seem to be having trouble with the fact she isn't still here," Blaise mentioned, still looking around and trying to gauge the scene of the trampled bed and the tie. When he registered the colors and what they meant, his jaw tightened.

He moved quickly over to the bed and grabbed the tie, holding it up for Draco to see. "Uh, what's this?"

"What's what?" Draco drawled, not looking over right away. It wasn't until he actually looked did his hand tighten around the cup, almost cracking it. _The tie._ He looked quickly away from it, as if that would prevent it from existing. He couldn't decide if he should laugh or stay serious; he wanted to laugh. Blaise looked livid.

"You bloody know what. Is this her tie Draco?" Blaise got closer, holding it up. Draco felt Blaise's stare and it was unwavering. It bore into Draco's downcast gaze and he grew annoyed with being found out so quickly.

"Is this Granger's tie Draco?" Blaise's voice was sharper and Draco twitched.

The words were difficult to form in his mouth. "You know it is," Draco managed trying to keep steady. His wand was still in his hand. He still had his half of the bargain at least.

Blaise looked furious. "Are you fucking kidding me Draco? Why wouldn't you tell us the minute you knew? Didn't it set off a warning to you, to you know, get the fuck away? She could be a spy for all we know! A witch in the same bloody uni we're hiding in!"

Draco sat very still, unable to think of a clear answer. He sighed heavily instead of answering because the truth was worse; he had ignored the warning signs for sex. That was pretty low, even for him.

Blaise walked over to him still shaking his head. "What if she jumped you once you got her alone in your room? Merlin did you even remember you had a brain last night," he ranted, sounding angry.

Blaise rubbed his forehead. He didn't speak for a few moments, as if he were trying to figure out what to do. Draco sat, not moving, his coffee cup suspended in air as the steam swirled over his face.

"Okay, so maybe I should have thought of that," Draco stated, unhappily. "But when she had her hand around my cock I wasn't going to argue." The bluntness of his statement left Blaise even angrier. Blaise threw the tie at Draco's feet.

"You're sick you know. We could be in danger and all you can think about is a bloody shag!" The exasperation in his voice was obvious as he finally sat down.

"Oh please," Draco started. "She was all over me, she had plenty of opportunities to use magic against me and she never did. Some spy, you really think it's that much to worry over? Probably a Beauxbattons girl who got a uniform when she was there for the TriWizard Tournament or someone's cousin getting laundry mixed up. She'd have no clue who we are to turn us in." It actually could be a plausible explanation and Blaise wanted to believe him. Draco sounded very convincing. But he also highly doubted it. It was too farfetched a story to be real.

"Did you see the raven on her skirt by chance? Or was it just the tie?" Blaise wasn't sure why it mattered.

"Yes it was a complete Ravenclaw uniform," Draco confirmed. "But come on, we didn't know her before this year here at this muggle place," Draco reminded and Blaise shook his head in agreement as he thought about this information.

"Yes but having another magical person here where we're hiding could be dangerous. We're going to have to find out who she is. We have to find out how much she knows about us or the war or anything really," Blaise said. "We need to know whose side she's on." The statement sounded harsh and both boys cringed.

"Well she was definitely on mine last night," Draco stated trying to defend himself. Blaise merely did an obvious sweep of the room yet again for Draco's amusement before giving him a look to prompt him to answer truthfully.

"Yet she left in quite the hurry," Blaise said. Draco scowled before replying.

"Fine. Scared her off didn't I? Guess she's not into death eaters," his words were defensive and vindictive. He remembered the nightmare and how it probably made for his bad company.

"Scared her how? I swear, if your time spent in death eater training camp somehow translates into your sex life, I don't want to know what kind of weird shit she fled from," Blaise sounded angry and uncomfortable.

"No you shit," snarled Draco, "I just…"

"Draco," Blaise sounded like a parent confronting a child who didn't want to tell the truth. "What happened, did she see your mark or something? She might not know what it means, we could obliviate her if it's that, Merlin we don't want her blabbing that off to anyone-"

Draco cut him off. "It was a nightmare," he sighed, hating the vulnerability. Blaise's expression was cold.

"When did you start having them again, eh? You failed to mention that," he started before sighing himself. Blaise sat forward, looking for a cup. When he didn't find one, Draco tapped a knuckle on the arm of his chair and one magically appeared. Blaise filled it with coffee and took a large gulp before looking at Draco for an answer.

"Not something I like to share. There's something very unsettling about feeling unforgiveables from your past like their real as day," Draco's voice had grown very low.

"True," Blaise glared, "but you're no shit at Occlumency. You were supposed to be keeping it up, we're in hiding remember? With this little slip up with a witch in our vicinity now would be the time to put lessons into practice."

"Hard to do without a wand," Draco said. "I'm only so good wandless and you know it. Occlumency takes far too much magic to do without some help. So I'm keeping this even if the bet says otherwise."

Blaise leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples. "Look, I don't fucking care about the bet anymore then. I couldn't really believe you'd give up all your shit pureblood prejudice that easily. You fucking suck," he paused letting the insult sink in.

"Anyway, I don't care. Theo should be here. I'm going to make him practice Occlumency with you again. I'm tired of this shit and he's better at it than me," he said, trying to figure out what to do from here. "It's not good you know, you having nightmares again. Never is a good sign," Blaise shook his head.

"Hey, it's not like I bloody asked for them alright," Draco said, feeling the dark mark twinge with pain. When he winced, Blaise caught it out of the corner of his eye and halted. He narrowed his eyes to Draco, who looked up from his forearm. "I'm. Fine."

"To hell you are!" Blaise raised his voice. "You find a witch and suddenly all the dark signs are back around you," Blaise got up and walked to the door. "Come on, I can't think in here. Let's get food, go downstairs. We need to talk about this," he said as he disappeared out the door.

Draco scowled at the mug in his hand. He didn't want to talk about it but he figured Blaise wouldn't drop it even if he tried. He set the mug down to put on trousers before replacing his wand in the pocket. He saw the small vial still sitting on the tray. He grabbed it and drank it down, feeling relief from the headache and nausea of his hangover. He sighed, wondering how this next conversation was going to go.

…

Draco walked slowly into the kitchen, where Theo was lounging in a chair at the table. It was tilted back on one leg, as if he'd enchanted it to stay. When Draco entered, he smiled. A disgruntled looking Blaise didn't look up from the stove. He was trying to turn on the gas but it appeared not to light or that he didn't really know how to light it. Draco sneered, not bothering to help and took a seat at the table across from Theo and glared.

"Why do you even bother to do it the muggle way when there's a set of kitchen spells specifically designed for this house?" Draco asked.

"Well since I'm not a Malfoy I don't know the weird secrets of all your properties," Blaise said. "Please enlighten us." The snarky comment did not go unnoticed by Draco. He glared but waved a hand in a complicated pattern; ingredients from the refrigerator began to zoom over to the counter and unpack themselves. When Blaise finally had the flame of the stove up and running, a bowl of batter for pancakes was already made and a tray of bacon was ready to be cooked.

Theo blinked at the spell work and looked back to Draco. "Fucking weirdo," he said shaking his head, impressed.

"You have the most interesting repertoire of spells, I don't understand how they ever will replace you now that you've left your spot in the death eater ranks vacant," Blaise said sharply. The sarcasm made Draco cringe.

"I know, I might singlehandedly stop this whole war," Draco joked, but an eeriness fell over the room that he hadn't intended. With what Blaise felt like was a rather large lie having just come to the surface, it probably wasn't a good idea to pretend you could be the savior. It made everyone feel uncomfortable and they were silent for a few minutes. It was only broken when Blaise interjected.

"Alright, we need to address the hippogriff in the room," Blaise stated, reminding them of the original reason they were all here in the kitchen. He looked serious and he took a deep breath before continuing. "She's a witch. What the hell are we going to do?"

"You already told him?" Draco looked incredulous; he hadn't expected Blaise to just dive in. Hadn't he just been upstairs having accidently left evidence of her abilities? How was it that Theo was already informed and over the initial shock?

"Obviously! This is important Draco, there's going to be a war most likely and the last thing we need is a spy or bait for someone to find us! What part of we can't be found don't you understand?" Blaise sounded desperate, like this had all been quite obvious to him when he found out. Draco had a leering scowl on his face and he crossed his arms across his chest defensively.

"Don't you think she had plenty of opportunity last night to, I don't know, harm me or curse me or something? In case you forgot, she was beyond preoccupied with fucking me. I don't think we need to worry so much," Draco's voice was defensive and he looked to Blaise for a reply.

"For the last time, I don't fucking care you fucked her. Get over yourself mate, we have a bigger issue on our hands," Blaise didn't bother looking over as he finally began cooking.

"Alright, calm the fuck down, both of you," Theo said, stopping their bantering. "No need for fighting now. We actually do need to figure something out. While she might have enjoyed a round or two in bed with you Draco, we can't confirm what side she's on," Theo explained. Draco closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths.

"How did you figure out she was magical?" Theo asked. Draco was quiet before he opened his eyes, sighing.

"She did a hair smoothing spell outside the bathroom, anyone could have seen. She was pretty careless really," Draco told them.

"Careless? Oh come on, I saw you do magic too," Blaise reminded him. "What about her wand? What did it look like, maybe we can go off of that," Blaise asked, now seeing an opportunity for identification.

"If she had one I never saw it, she appears to be more clever than we thought," Draco said without thinking. It just made sense that she had to be quite the well-taught witch to be so skilled without a wand _._ Draco was so good at wandless magic because he was taught so young. Being in a long standing aristocratic family has its weird traditions. At least it had come in handy for sheer convenience around the dormitories and for discrepancy.

Blaise's voice brought Draco back to the present. He looked over. "That's not good. She is probably pretty good at magic then. You have to be to master that old skill," Blaise said, eying Draco as if testing him to try and brag. Draco could tell Blaise was in no mood for games and stayed silent instead.

Theo looked frustrated. "So, we have no idea where she came from or what she's doing here, and she's crazy smart," Theo said. "That's just great. That's going to be plenty helpful." He appeared annoyed.

Draco gave a quiet smirk and Theo looked at him. "Except her uniform," he said. Theo gave a puzzled look but Blaise obviously remembered and he rolled his eyes. "I think green and silver would have looked better on her than blue and bronze."

Theo looked like he wanted to laugh when he comprehended Draco's statement. "You've got to be joking! Ravenclaw colors, no way. That's just too fucking coincidental isn't it? Hogwarts, here of all places?"

"Exactly!" Blaise said, exasperation in his voice. "If she's a spy or something she could have stolen robes to make us trust her, I don't know. What if she works for the Order? For our parents' side?"

"Although," Theo cut in, "couldn't she have borrowed the robes? From like, a cousin or something? Maybe she goes to a different school."

Theo's suggestion made sense, but Draco brought up even more questions. "That's what I suggested. But she's enrolled in this Uni and completely comprehends the material. She had to have been in one of Sterns' classes to be his TA," Draco said.

"Don't find that too often anymore do you," Theo said. "Seems you might have bagged yourself a half-blood mate."

Draco narrowed his eyes sharply. "What do you mean?" Blaise gave an equally as confused look at to what Theo was hinting at. Theo put his fork down, surprised they didn't pick up on it.

"Half-bloods are statistically more likely to achieve degrees in both the magical and muggle world. If you were a muggle parent and you found out your kid had the capabilities of being part of a completely different world, you probably still want them to learn your way of things. Her mum probably wanted her to go and she ended up doing both. Definitely could be," he stated. Draco looked suddenly pissed.

"A half-blood, aye? Well you achieved the bet partly then Draco," Blaise laughed, but when he saw Draco's face he stopped. "What's this? A little resentful are we? Too close to actual muggle for your liking?" Blaise's taunts were said rather jovial, but he knew the dangers he could inflict with them.

"I'm sure I've shagged a half-blood at Hogwarts. That girl from Beauxbattons definitely was. The blonde back in fourth year," Draco argued but Blaise just laughed.

"Wasn't she half Veela?" Blaise questioned, looking smug. "I don't think that counts you know."

"Fuck off Blaise," Draco managed, but he looked away obviously still angry. "I'm sure there was someone, I'm not that much of a pureblood elitist. She was hot, that's all that mattered."

"Fine, that's actually good to hear," Blaise said, looking smug at Draco's indifference towards half-bloods. "But you still didn't complete the bet. Technically I should have that wand back," Draco looked suddenly defensive. "but maybe you should keep it, You'll need it to practice. We need to be on guard now."

Draco knew Blaise meant well but he hated how he had to be practically taken care of. He didn't like feeling vulnerable. He put his head in his arms, wondering when he had decided that half-bloods were fair game. It hadn't been something he had considered last night, when he'd had his hand up her skirt and his tongue in her mouth. Not at all. An unsettling feeling curled its way into his mind as Blaise continued cooking. Theo just looked smug.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; I don't own it. The prompt is in the first chapter and some of the others. My amazing roommate is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.** _ **"**_

 _ **-Hi guys, sorry for the delay, I just keep finding myself super busy and whatnot which is such a bummer because I really like updating this fic. I hope you enjoy this section, please note most of this is an explanation of the wizarding world so it should follow the books the right way but if you find any discrepancies with the book plot let me know! My amazing editor Jackie is a diehard hp fan like myself, so it should be okay.**_

 _ **ENJOY! PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL WHAT'S GOOD AND WHAT BAD!**_

Hermione thought about the glass and the sex and the house and the magic as she hurried quickly back to her apartment in the freezing morning. Her whole body shook and she could feel a tingling sensation floating through her veins. She thought of how she'd only seen what she considered magic a few times in her life. One time at a train station, a young boy seemed to disappear into the wall. Another at a bus stop, when a girl her age had made her cat's fur change color. And then a time in France, with what she could have sworn was a dragon across the lake!

Her mind raced. She was still thinking about Malfoy; from sleeping with him to his crazy fit in his sleep this morning and seeing him do magic, Hermione was quickly freaking out. Her heartbeat felt erratic and she could almost see her breath in front of her. The magic was the most important piece of information she couldn't wrap her head around; he had been so at ease and hadn't showed any unusual signs of possessing powers. She was beside herself with confusion and panic.

 _How could he possibly be magical?! He's a prat, he's hot, he's manipulative, AND he has magic on his side? No fair,_ she cursed the situation. Magic, she hoped, was something special and she wondered how long he had been able to use it. She hadn't expected quite so many secrets from the annoying, black-lunged boy she had been so interested in last night. It was like her curiosity for him was never going to end.

When she had seen other traces and possibilities of magic from strange individuals, she had always wanted to approach them about it. She was young and naïve, not knowing how people would react; her parents had insisted she was making things up and to stop doing whatever it was she was doing to trick them. She bit her lip nervously. She hated having no one to turn to about magic and well, he didn't seem like the best person to turn to.

There had to be someone, anyone. Hadn't she seen a girl on the first day of this school year doing magic? She had pushed the thought from her mind for so long, trying to convince herself it was false. But if she was honest with herself, she dreamed of the girl with brooding high cheeks, who had fixed her hair with a snap of a finger. It definitely was magic. Hermione stood, frozen, her eyes wide when the realization of who the girl was hit her. The memory clicked. _Ginny_.

It was Ginny that first day, doing magic out in the quad. Hermione felt the truth of it in her heart. She obviously hadn't known then who she was, but thinking back she could recall Luna swatting gnats from her head and the lazy way they walked about the quad. Now, she hoped beyond a doubt that Ginny had crashed in their apartment because she was about to get a wakeup call. Ginny had to have answers, she just had to understand, right? They were good enough friends now, weren't they, that she could be open about this?

Hermione barreled up the staircase to her apartment in a mix of eagerness and worry. She was falling apart as she got closer and closer to the safety of her place. _I just have to talk to her, I can't let this go I just can't!_ _ **Magic is real,**_ _at least I'm almost positive it is…_ She didn't know what else to do as panic washed over her in waves. Her whole body was shaking and she was mentally cracking. _I've held this in way too long! I just have to tell someone. Ginny!_

…

Hermione practically dragged Ginny into her bedroom when she walked in the door and saw the mermaid, asleep on the couch. Hermione's stockinged feet were wet on the hardwood from walking on the sidewalk; she hadn't bothered to wear heels at a time like this. Ginny looked on with eyes still full of sleep and she rubbed them vigorously. When Hermione started pacing the room looking as if she had seen a ghost, Ginny straightened.

She must have looked a wreck because Ginny suddenly looked worried. Hermione's heartbeat was fast and she felt her own magic quickly rush through her. She stared straight ahead trying to steady her breath.

Ginny looked nervously on as Hermione stood in front of her. "Hey, what is going on? Hermione are you okay?"

"I- I'm not sure," she managed, her head still reeling. She moved back and forth, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked frazzled; her hair was a mess of curls and her makeup from the night before was starting to smear at the edge of her eyes. "Something happened. Something… strange."

 _Strange is a good place to start,_ she thought to herself. She wrung her hands, trying to decide the best way to say what she needed to get off her chest. She needed someone's reassurance she wasn't bat-shit crazy, and well, if Ginny was magical too, maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"Where have you been girl? When you weren't here Erin said she'd seen you with that guy from your class. We figured we wouldn't see you back here so soon." Ginny winked but kept talking. "He didn't do anything did he? Please tell me you're okay. Are you hurt, possibly pregnant, what?" Ginny watched on; her voice gave a slight waver as she listed off the worst.

"No, he didn't… he didn't harm me. And I most certainly am not pregnant. I'm on the pill, I'm not daft. But he… he just…" she was hesitant and her voice shook and she started pacing again.

 _He had done magic!_ _ **Magic**_ _Hermione, God! You have to tell someone!_ __Her nervousness was starting to get the better of her and she could feel the magic just ready to explode from her fingertips.

"I don't know how to explain this," she paused again and she moved even faster. Ginny was having trouble following her with her gaze.

 _Come on, Ginny has to be someone you can confide in; she has to be in on this, you know what you saw that first day! Just say it!_ Hermione took a deep breath and stopped dead in her tracks. She was right in front of Ginny as her voice came out in a rush.

"I don't know it's going to sound so stupid! It's going to sound just incredibly insane but I just-!"

She didn't have to explain; holding back so much, Hermione couldn't control herself. She felt the magic escape in a ripple of a wave across the room. It was too late; her emotional state pushed the magic out and the carpet over her wooden floors went sailing into a pile against the wall. Several papers and books flew into the air off of her desk and scattered across the room. Ginny sat staring, her mouth open.

Hermione felt tears coming to her eyes and she collapsed onto the bed beside Ginny. Lifting a shaking arm, Ginny hugged Hermione to her, who was now crying softly at all the things she had done and all the pent up magic she had tried so hard to keep in and the harsh reality of living a secret her whole life. Ginny sat silent, consoling her friend.

After a long silence, Ginny finally spoke. Her voice felt far away. "Are you in hiding too? Because of the war?" she said into the quiet and Hermione sat up slowly. _Hiding? War?_ Hermione thought suddenly. What was Ginny talking about? She shuddered trying to get her head straight to speak.

"I- what are you talking about?" she started when she finally found her voice. "I'm not in hiding Ginny, and what war? What are you talking about?"

Ginny leaned back, confusion replacing her initial melancholy. "What, you mean you actually go to school at this muggle uni?"

The desperation in Hermione's eyes made them wide and her jaw fell as she tried hard to comprehend Ginny's words. "At this what?" Hermione blinked back tears and she felt her voice drop. Hermione wiped under her eyes but it was no help; the black mascara became watery and she looked almost bruised.

"Uh, a muggle university? A non-magical school?" Ginny said hesitantly. She was simply honest and Hermione felt right on the edge of a mental breakdown. She waited for Ginny to say more, unable to really formulate sentences of her own.

"Are you telling me that you don't know? About magic and the wizarding world and the like?" Ginny's voice was light and unapologetically kind, but it didn't comfort Hermione one bit.

 _Magic. Wizarding world. Oh. God._ It took Hermione a second before she responded, shaking ever more violently at the realization of Ginny's words. Overwhelmed, she didn't know if she should feel relief or fear or what.

"What do you… what are you talking about Ginny? Magic and wizards, you can't possibly… you can't possibly mean…" Hermione felt her heart do a somersault as she struggled to speak; she felt her whole world suddenly crumbling.

All her life she had struggled to keep a secret that seemed too big and important to be just hers. She stressed about not fitting in and feeling foolish for making strange things occur without meaning to. She had this bizarre ability, for lack of better understanding, and she was different because of it. She felt like no one would ever understand, but she had desperately wished she could find someone to relate to.

And now, in one night everything changed. A casual turn of tongue and Ginny had unleashed chaos and clarity to Hermione's life; she had a place, she had something, she belonged. It was surreal and it should have been exciting but the worried look on Ginny's face didn't make it a happy moment. Hermione waited for Ginny to speak. "You really have no clue what I mean by muggles and Gryffindors and wands, do you?" Ginny said.

"No, Ginny are you… are you seriously telling me that _magic_ … that it is real? That it…it _exists?"_ Hermione's anticipation broke in a whisper of fast words. Ginny gave a nervous nod and held an arm open. Hermione looked ready to collapse in shock before giving a tearful smile. Ginny seemed to comprehend this very well and smiled.

"You can't be serious, now I thought I saw you do magic that first day but I told myself a hundred times it had to be a trick of the light, it had to be something else! I just don't believe it, I've wanted this my whole life! I meant it when I said I've never fit in and I've had this weight on me all my life, of secrecy, and oh Ginny!" Hermione was sobbing now and the tears fell in long trains down her cheeks.

She curled up in Ginny's arms and the girls sat there for several moments. Ginny could not fathom how incredibly happy and confused Hermione was feeling. The magical world was so very important in the eyes of her new friend, and to never have known such a great thing existed only meant one thing: her letter was intercepted.

She had to be a muggle that got taken off the list. The ministry was corrupt and bribes were common, Voldemort could have sabotaged Hogwarts long before he had it shut down. They had heard rumors of students not receiving letters, seen the dwindling numbers of muggleborns and halfbloods as the years progressed. And now, she had proof.

She looked solemn. She thought of Harry and the darkness that now threatened the beautiful world Hermione had suddenly discovered. The world, where people like her were seen as inferior, where prejudice and hatred were becoming second nature. A war was about to start. Her high cheeks turned pale.

"So you were never told there was magic in your ancestry?" Ginny asked as she squeezed her arm that was still around Hermione. "Like mum or dad, or a sibling of one?"

"No," Hermione said, her throat scratchy. "Not that I was ever aware. We were you're your traditional English family. My parents convinced themselves I was just overtly intelligent. Full of endless creativity to come up with some of the stories I told about seeing things that weren't quite possible. Even when I tried to show them." Hermione sighed.

"Easy for you to say, in wizarding England I come from quite the traditional family," Ginny said calmly. She laughed at Hermione's blank stare. "You are not going to believe half the things I could tell you from my childhood, but trust me, they were pretty normal if you lived in a magical household. The house itself defies gravity!"

When Hermione stayed silent, Ginny tried to think of some of the more uncommon things Hermione would be interested in. "My chores included de-gnoming the garden and cleaning up after the ghoul in the attic. There was one summer my brother Fred and I stole my brother Bill's broom too!"

Hermione's flabbergasted appearance didn't fade and a few tears still escaped her eyes. She chuckled a little at the idea of flying brooms and ghouls. She wiped the tears with a shaking hand, still unsure of what she was hearing. Ginny just gave a small smile. "It's going to be okay Hermione. I promise." She reached out a hand and touched Hermione's knee. "But first, I think we need to wake Luna. She's going to be ecstatic!"

…

Luna was awake when they came into the kitchen. She was busy making tea and Ginny walked over to the counter to sit. She looked over at Hermione and she held up a hand to beckon her to follow and Hermione walked slowly to the other stool. She sat, nervousness clearly still keeping her on edge. She watched Luna busy at the sink.

"So," Ginny started, "we might have just figured something out Luna."

Luna put the kettle on the stove and started setting out cups, looking up at Ginny when she spoke. "And what exactly have you figured out?"

"Well, Hermione is a lot more like us than we originally thought… Luna I think she's a witch," Ginny didn't waste any more time and Luna's eyes flashed when she heard.

"Well!" Luna breathed. The kettle began to whistle. "That sure changes things up, doesn't it?" She walked over to the high-pitched sound and grabbed the kettle, bringing it to the counter. "Another muggleborn expunged," she sighed more to herself than the others.

"Most likely," Ginny said gravely. She propped her hand up under her chin in indignation. Hermione didn't know what that even meant, but she figured it wasn't a good thing. She looked from Ginny to Luna and back again, hoping to get answers.

Luna began pouring out tea and waved her hand to turn over the mugs that lay face down in front of Ginny and Hermione. Hermione's eyes went wide and she looked nervous at the simple trick when Ginny gave a cough.

"Shit," Luna cursed under her breath, realizing what she'd done. Magic in front of a girl who was still in shock was a bad idea. "I'm sorry, it's an easy one and I'll teach it to you first," she said to Hermione. In the craziness of it all, Hermione could do nothing but laugh.

…

Hermione fidgeted with her hands. "It happened for the first time when I was six," and she proceeded to explain the story of the first time she had done magic to the boy who had bullied her on the playground.

"That's actually quite typical for young witches and wizards," Ginny said. "When you are young, you have a hard time controlling it. If you are particularly gifted, you tend to have more outbursts than most or you can sometimes learn to control it early, especially when you come from a family like mine. My brothers taught me stuff all the time," she chuckled thinking of them. "And my mum had me helping with magical chores since I could crawl!"

"But if I have no magical lineage, at least none I know of, how can I do it? It seems highly unlikely, given modern genetics and all," Hermione stated. She was no biologist but she knew the basics and she wasn't sure how magic worked in a world of alleles and chromosomes. She wasn't even sure Ginny and Luna knew what alleles and chromosomes were.

She tried to clarify then. "When you say lineages you mean your ancestry, your family history, right?"

"Yes and no," Ginny said. "In the magical world, family lineages are determined much more by bloodlines." Hermione's brow wrinkled and Luna continued before she could ask anything.

"In the magical world bloodlines are interesting to say in the least," Luna's lofty voice made the situation much more comfortable and Hermione's shoulders seemed to relax a miniscule amount. "It makes sense that two people, who are fully magical would have children with magical blood as well. Therefore, the children are known as purebloods."

Ginny pointed to herself and said, "like me," and Luna just nodded.

"And me as well. However," Luna continued, "A magical person can very well have children with a non-magical person and the children are still magical. They're considered half-bloods."

"And then there's people like you," Ginny explained. "That seem to be magical without magical relatives."

"A non-magical person can be born to a magical family. They are given a degrading term and basically forced out of the wizarding society. If that person goes on to marry a non-magical person and they have children, there is a chance that their children can be magical because the gene can be carried without being expressed. Long generations have been traced far back to account for magic in quite a few witches and wizards."

Hermione frowned. "That doesn't seem fair that they are ostracized; they didn't chose to not be magical. And does wizarding genetics work the same as non-magical does? I wonder the crazy explorations into medicine magic could give…"

"Exactly," Luna stated. "It isn't fair. The wizarding hospital St. Mungo's was supposed to be doing research on it, but there hasn't been word of that in ages." Luna looked annoyed. "You're obviously very bright, I'm sure magical medicine could be in your future and you could actually do some good."

Hermione smiled at the compliment and Luna continued. "Anyway, we are seeing more and more muggle children, non-magical people, who show signs of magic. It's brilliant really, because it helps further our own knowledge. We have a lot to learn from people who don't grow up the way we do," Luna smiled at Hermione who could have sworn she'd heard that word 'muggle' somewhere else before today with the girls, but she couldn't remember. Instead, she returned the smile and gestured for them to move to the sofas to continue.

The morning light streamed in despite the pockets of fog they could see over the lower buildings across the street. Hermione curled up like a cat in a corner, holding the mug with both hands. The steam and warmth soothed her.

"Normally, if you are from a magical family," Ginny spoke up, "the year you turn eleven you get a letter inviting you to school. When you're non-magical, one of the staff members or a Ministry official comes to your house to explain all about magic, the wizarding world, and everything you need to know." Hermione looked up from the steam, her eyes wide.

 _There was a Ministry of Magic?! Like politics for wizards?! What the hell am I doing studying English?! I knew I couldn't be crazy my whole life! This is all real, oh my God,_ _ **oh my God.**_ Hermione relished her own thoughts, finally realizing she might have some truth to not ever belonging anywhere. She looked eagerly at the girls, wanting to hear more.

"Okay, so clearly I didn't get any letter, isn't that suspicious? How do they know where all these kids who can do magic are?" Hermione began but Luna cut off her questions.

"Magic is detectable. When there's an outburst in a place that's not normally a high-traffic area for magic, it gets flagged within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They investigate and figure out what needs to be done." Hermione still looked unsatisfied although she was impressed. An entire world lost to her; everything seemed interesting about it.

"Basically someone will come for you. And well, remember how you scoffed at non-magical people being hated by magical people?" Hermione gave a nod, instantly scared to see where this was going. Luna's voice continued on growing grave. "That opinion stems much further; certain witches and wizards believe having magic makes them superior to non-magical people. They hate them, believe they are scum. And what's worse is they see people like you, who have the ability to do magic without real magical bloodlines, equally as badly. They believe you are a disgrace to magic, that you shouldn't be allowed to do it."

Hermione had turned red with her rising temper the more Luna had talked and now she was a violent shade of maroon. "Are you fucking kidding me? That kind of prejudice is tactless and just downright wrong! And I cannot believe-" but as her thoughts ran crazy with thinking of aristocratic socialite witches and wizards, showing off and thinking better of themselves, the image of Malfoy flashed in her mind. She stopped short; there was no way he wasn't from a family just like that.

Suddenly she remembered the crazy blonde. She remembered the dancing and the drinks and the snide remarks. She remembered Blaise being angry and the tension and the flirting. She remembered leaving the party and the obsidian peacocks and emerald bedsheets. And she remembered the water glass. Hermione paled.

"What is it? Hermione?" Luna's voice changed to one of concern when she saw the look on Hermione's face. "Are you okay?" It took Hermione a few seconds before she could find her own voice to speak up.

"I- It was… the guy, the one I went home with…" she couldn't formulate the words right. Regret settled once again on her shoulders, heavy and nagging. Ginny looked quizzical and Hermione choked out the words. "He- I think he… _I think he did magic."_

Ginny flinched. Silence filled the room and Ginny and Luna exchanged looks of alarm and confusion. "Do you know his name? Hermione?" Ginny shook her arm. "Do you know his name, anything, come on," Ginny spoke fast and urgently causing Hermione to tense up.

A whisper was all she could muster. "Malfoy."

…

If a pin had dropped in the room, it would have shattered the tension. Ginny looked as if she'd just been kicked in the throat. Her mouth was a firm line across her face as she walked slowly over to the window. Luna sat in contemplation, breathing evenly but loudly in her unease.

"You've got to be bloody joking," Ginny was angry as she begun to pace the room. Hermione sat by nervously, waiting for someone to speak; they clearly knew who he was and, gauging by Ginny's reaction, he wasn't one of their friends.

"Now Ginny," Luna started but Ginny interjected.

"How did they find us?! Kingsley picked this place himself! I don't understand, bloody snakes the lot of them!" Ginny was going off and Hermione didn't understand; they were hiding? Who was this Kingsley fellow? And was she calling Malfoy and his friends a bunch of snakes? A _peculiar insult if ever I heard one…_

Ginny continued, not able to stop herself. "I can't believe the git could care less that his mum is suffering Merlin knows what because he left! I'm assuming Lucius blames her or something dumb like that, she's probably fucked. And he's here, too busy drinking and getting laid," Ginny scoffed.

Hermione noted Ginny's use of Merlin instead of God and, while she wanted to ask, she grimaced instead. "In my defense he was being uncommonly nice last night." When Ginny looked over, it made her nervous. Ginny obviously knew a lot more about Malfoy than Hermione did, but she felt the need to justify her actions anyway. "He was a gentleman on the walk home, talking of books and Paris and I… well…" her voice trailed off in regret.

A _m I justifying sleeping with him because he could converse well? Hadn't I completely regretted him this morning? Nightmares and scars and now this… shouldn't I regret him, I regret him, I definitely do, he's a fucking piece of work,_ she told herself and she was pretty sure she believed it. She sighed, _clearly I have a lot more to learn than I thought about this wizarding world. What is even going on? Ugh._

"Hermione, we aren't blaming you obviously. It's just, well you didn't exactly pick an A plus guy to hang out with last night," Luna said. She paused then, as if she was deciding what to say next.

Ginny gave a harsh laugh. "Yeah, nicely done. We don't blame you, but damn, how did you manage to actually put up with him for an entire night? Not to mention sleeping with him! Merlin!"

At this, Hermione lost her patience. She had such an inkling early on that Malfoy was trouble but she had pushed it away. She had disregarded her own intuition for superficial looks and a wise mouth. She was more than angry with herself and now she was desperate to know just exactly why he was so shitty. She could finally know the truth. 

"Does someone want to bother telling me what's wrong with this git that makes you so pissed off Gin?" Hermione tried to keep the eagerness out of her tone. "I mean, I know as well as you that he can be quite the arse, but last night… he was different, I don't know." She paused, thinking about it and then shook her head. She couldn't get the image of his strong arms out of her mind. "You called him a snake. You said something was wrong with his mum; what the hell do you know about his family? Are they in trouble? What's going on?"

Maybe if she bombarded them with questions they'd actually give legitimate answers. Hermione was hopeful. Ginny however, gave a loud laugh that didn't really hold any humor in it. "Don't worry about his mum okay. She would really **hate** you, trust me." Luna shot Ginny a warning look. "She would," Ginny said under her breath.

"Was he aware you were magical?" Luna questioned, ignoring Ginny. Hermione shook her head in an obvious no, uncertain what that had to do with anything.

"What is he playing at," Ginny said. "Is he being punished or something because I feel like he wouldn't do it in any right mind. Unless he saw her doing magic he'd think she was just an ordinary muggle, wouldn't he? Draco Malfoy with a muggle girl, not in a thousand years!"

"He was hammered," Hermione offered, a little angry. "And I am not exactly a terrible catch okay! He wasn't the only guy eying me last night thank you very much."

While she vehemently defended herself to her friends, she felt almost guilty for her actions now. In her own defense, she felt nothing could have been better than having that uniform on when she hopped up on that desk last night and his response proved it. He knew what he was doing. It was his fault as much as hers. She waited for someone to speak.

"It's okay Hermione, calm down, we're sorry," Luna said. "This is just a lot all at once," she cleared her throat before continuing, trying to sound sure of herself. "She clearly is magical. Hermione, you didn't do any magic at the party did you? Anything noticeable that he could have seen? Or did you tell him by chance?"

"Of course I didn't tell him," Hermione said and, as she was about to deny doing magic in public because she wasn't that dumb, her cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. She knew she had fixed her hair at least three times last night with magic; she had just wanted to look as amazing as her outfit made her feel! While she had tried to do it behind closed doors and in inconspicuous locations, she couldn't be one hundred percent certain he didn't see.

She sighed. "I did a thing to my hair, nothing noticeable though! Like you did Ginny, on the first day; simple flick of the wrist, I don't know," she did the charm quick now to show them and her hair grew shiny and smooth.

Ginny widened her eyes, clearly impressed but she kept her arms crossed over her chest. "Okay so was there any time where he might have seen you do it?" Ginny asked, but Hermione looked reluctant.

"Not that I can think of. But like I said, he did seem different last night; he was nicer, he was flirtatious even." She felt like it was an important distinction to make, this change in his behavior. As far as Ginny and Luna were concerned he was just as much of a prat as Hermione had originally felt he was. Maybe even worse. "He was mean to me earlier this year on plenty of occasions. A few times he has actually held conversations with me and he bought me coffee once, but it usually ends in one of us getting pissed off," Hermione paused thinking. "But something about last night changed his opinion. He was calmer, nicer. I don't know if it was the outfit or the alcohol or both or something else, but it happened okay…"

Hermione seemed upset once again but suddenly Luna's eyes grew wide. "Oh shit," she said miserably, her hand coming to cover the shock on her mouth. "She was wearing my uniform Ginny, my school uniform! He couldn't have been too drunk to recognize the Ravenclaw colors! He may be a Slytherin but he's not stupid. It would have been a dead giveaway to her being magical! Shit!"

The features of Ginny's face changed once again from anger to annoyance. "So you're saying he thought she was a witch solely from seeing a Hogwarts uniform? I feel like that's highly unlikely, even in these circumstances. We're at a Muggle uni miles away for Merlin's sake!" she explained. "Seeing that would be a red flag, not an invitation for a shag."

"Ugh, fuck. Do you think he realized he'd never seen her before at school? You'd think that would be suspicious," Luna said, sounding still confused.

"Not to be a fucking downer but can someone _please_ give me some more information about the bastard I decided to shag last night? Since I completely ignored the voice in my head that warned me to stay away I would just like to know what exactly kind of crazed arsehole I let touch me!" Hermione sounded edgy and spiteful. She just needed answers.

Luna looked remorseful. "We're sorry Hermione. We're not trying to be so cryptic it's just- it's just, this is big news finding him, especially here of all places. He's supposed to be on the run, he's in trouble. When we explain the whole thing well… you're not going to like it," Hermione looked from Luna to Ginny, whose face was equally as miserable.

"Just tell me!" Hermione's voice was stern and commanding. Luna was rubbing her forehead in consternation. Ginny sighed.

"Remember how we said some wizarding families hold prejudices against their non-magical counterparts? Well, that prejudice is a deep seeded problem in the pureblood community and the Malfoy family is a top contributor. They are rich and have a knack for manipulation, at least one can assume from the amount of money they've bled out of the corporate wizarding world over the years. His father Lucius is involved in our Ministry, always causing problems. Not that he sees it as problems," Ginny scoffed. "My dad works in the Ministry too. We went to school with Draco and we know his family well. He's a right charm to the untrained eye, the prat who thinks he's some kind of royalty. Nice pick," Ginny stated.

It wasn't directed as an insult but Hermione still felt stupid. Ginny's brief description of Malfoy and his family left her with even more questions and concerns. _What kind of world is this wizarding one if it's so archaic! And his family was all about prejudice and corruption? I actually slept with a complete arse ugh! I don't believe this…_

Hermione shook her head and rubbed her temples. "Glad I could find the one completely idiotically awful person for me and manage to get all the way into bed with him! What the hell was even going on in my head?! Fuck!"

Luna cut in, trying to help. "It's _not_ your fault Hermione. Ginny said it herself he's manipulative! He was raised a proper gentleman despite problematic family ideals and he's far from displeasing when he wants to be. He was trying to get you to like him, it's not like he's going to bring up his past in the middle of a hook up. Listen," Luna clarified, "the entire wizarding world knows the Malfoys and the lot of them is full of this kind of bigotry. They treat people of your kind with resent and spite. It's a sad reality that is escalating fairly quickly. As happy as we want to be for you discovering magic, you are entering our world at a dangerous time."

Hermione's face distorted in a combination of fear and nervousness and anger. She had been so scared to see magic this morning and then so scared to tell Ginny that the happiness of just being validated in her powers and not being labeled a freak melted away. Fears of the unknown replaced them and the memories of Malfoy's scarred body and aggressive nature came back to her. She had ignored the red flags against him in her mind every time but she shuddered nervously. What kinds of dangerous and bigoted things was he actually involved in?

"Luna's right. It is dangerous. His father's hold on certain officials in the Ministry is proving to fuel the corruption and there's not much other people can do. Their hands are tied," said Ginny. "Riots are starting and bad rumors have been trickling to our side. It seems everyone is on edge these days and everyone is training up just in case. Well, 'training' is a loose term. It's more like… preparation."

Hermione felt a rush of nerves and fear. "Preparation for what?" The image of her perfect, magical world that had just emerged from nowhere was crumbling the minute she found out. She felt panic surge through her and she almost wanted to cry. _This wasn't how it was supposed to go,_ she thought to herself bitterly. _It isn't fair, none of this is fair!_

"For war." Ginny said gravely. Her words left the room cold.

…

"So if he's so keen on his prejudices why did he sleep with me last night? I thought I'm some kind of scum to him or something," Hermione stated, anger in her tone. The cup of tea in her hand was doing nothing for her; she was still shocked at the whole situation and angry at the boy who had been so infatuated with her last night.

"That's the problem," Ginny said. "If he knew you were a muggleborn he would have kept his distance. He had to have seen you do something or he just really likes the whole school girl thing." Ginny gave a disgusted frown. "I can't be sure, but I doubt he's ever gotten with any of the muggleborns at Hogwarts."

"But he's been enamored with me since day one," Hermione argued. "Remember? What do you think is his problem? It's not like I was being nice back, at least not for the first couple times we interacted!"

"I don't know, maybe that's it. You aren't his normal type," Ginny suggested.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "And his type would be?"

"Dumb and hot. Double points if their quiet," Ginny said. Luna gave a snort of laughter. "You know it's true Luna! Emmaline Vance, Romilda, Penelope, Susan Bones, Denise and Scarlett too. Probably most Slytherin girls. Pansy for Merlin's sake, who is the loudest person in the world. She wouldn't shut up about him during potions all last year, disgusting. And I don't even think he liked her much. Maybe he's turning a new leaf, wants ones that can actually formulate full, logical sentences." She laughed at her own joke.

Hermione's eyes widened. She didn't enjoy hearing all about Malfoy's other bedfellows. But then her mind quickly jumped to Ginny's mention of potions and she became too distracted to care about the other girls. Although she made a mental reminder to ask what Pansy looked like later before gushing over the class.

"Did you say potions? Like bubble, bubble, toil and trouble in a cauldron?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Oh yeah, it's one of the main subjects. You learn to make all sorts of cool elixirs and draughts. You measure ingredients and mix them up in cauldrons," Luna said.

"The professor kind of sucks though, he's so fucking biased against Gryffindors. He's fucking creepy with his greasy hair and that scowl," Ginny shuttered.

Hermione looked excited despite her obvious confusion. "Uh, what exactly is a Gryffindor?"

Ginny just laughed. Luna looked sincere as she smiled. "Our school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has some interesting qualities. It's literally a magical castle with classrooms and a great hall for eating. The student body is divided into four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each is the last name of the four founders who created the school back in 990. Each one has its own emblem and colors. It's like your family for your seven years there."

"I'm in Gryffindor," Ginny said before putting a hand to the side of her mouth to speak just to Hermione. "It's the best house, by far. Plus, we're also the lions, just like this place!" she laughed.

Luna rolled her eyes. "I'm literally right here, I can hear you. _I'm_ in Ravenclaw. Its members value knowledge and wit. Gryffindors value bravery and are the risk takers of the school. Hufflepuffs are hardworking and modest and then there's the Slytherins-"

Before Luna could continue Ginny cut in. "'Or perhaps in Slytherin you'll make your real friends, those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends.'" Hermione looked confused at the poem.

"Thank you for that. Yes, Slytherins are said to be cunning and resourceful-"

"But it usually ends up being for selfish reasons," Ginny cut in again. "At least, the ones we know are fairly inconsiderate of those that aren't family or friends. Anyway, that little poem there is part of the Sorting Hat's song; it's a magical hat that chooses what house you go to your first year at Hogwarts. I bet you're a Ravenclaw, you're smart as hell!"

Hermione blushed and she tried to comprehend what she was hearing. A castle. Magical hats. Singing songs. You live as part of a house, where you belonged. It sounded too good to be true, but there was still the nagging doubt that this war could prevent her from ever seeing the halls of Hogwarts. She tried to push it away, if only for a little bit of happiness.

Hermione looked at the girls and they could see longing in her eyes. "I have always felt like I was not where I belonged my whole life," she said quietly. Tears seemed to form and well up at the corners of her eyes. This time, they were happy tears. "You don't understand what this means for me. I finally found what I've been searching for."

Ginny's smile was huge and happy and Luna looked as if she might cry too. "I remember seeing the look on my mum's face the first time I did magic, I'll never forget it," Luna said, her voice soft. They could tell she was lost in her own beautiful memory.

"Trust me, you've never seen magic like my house. You know there's nine of us, right? Never dull," Ginny smiled. "Magic is pretty wicked."

The girls sat quietly for another few moments, unable to put to words the feelings each of them had. Hermione, at her discovery, Luna, at her memory of her mother, and Ginny, at her huge family. All were connected by magic. Hermione was in for an interesting day.

…

"So, about Malfoy…" Hermione tried to be straightforward and nonchalant, but her voice faltered and gave her away. She grabbed another take-out container from off the coffee table to distract her mind from thinking about him.

But she couldn't help it. The past two hours Ginny and Luna had been explaining non-stop, anything and everything to do with the magical world. They each showed her their wands and Hermione sat, amazed and in downright shock. Actual, wooden wands for spells! And they c _ho_ _o_ _se you._ Hermione still couldn't believe what she was hearing.

The whole time they talked however, she remembered Malfoy. She knew he was just as much a part of this world as she now was. He grew up with magic. He grew up with magic and money and she wondered what else.

"I still can't believe you actually slept with him!" Ginny laughed over her rice. "Like he is hot in that pompous sort of way that you see princes and rock stars walk around like. But he's far from amazing. He was in the limelight from when he could crawl. He's the sole heir to Malfoy Enterprise. All the accounts and land and such that his mum and dad don't decide to hold onto once they retire early. They pride themselves on their ability to be influential, both politically and economically; at least when it counts for them," Ginny sounded smug.

"I can see how growing up like that affects how he carries himself, especially in public," Hermione considered. Except she got to see him behind closed doors; she had been intimate and playful and naked with him. He had flirted all night and she remembered he how he had gently reached for her when they fell asleep.

Thinking of these two different sides of him made her reason that Ginny and Luna had never seen any good in him. Had she stayed with him all morning, would he have extended that kindness and gentleness to her then? Or would he have kicked her out immediately and disregarded her? She wasn't sure and it made her nervous that Ginny and Luna didn't like him so much.

"They are quite the traditional, pureblood family. Why it matters that they're so filthy rich I don't know. They've flaunted to my family on several occasions that their wealth greatly surpasses ours. It's sick."

And then, Hermione did feel sick. She hated knowing the same mouth that had bitten her neck just so last night had also hurt Ginny so much. She was clearly angry and Luna appeared just as unhappy. How could someone be so two-sided?

"The Malfoys are one of the most prominent supporters of magical purity. You need to understand Hermione, blood status is a regular subject of controversy right now. There are some that truly believe magic should be restricted to magical-blooded people and that non-magical people are of lowest societal ranking," Luna's explanation sent shivers down Hermione's spine. "Those that have the ability to do magic but don't have magical blood, someone like you…" She didn't dare stop Luna from continuing, eager yet scared to hear of the turmoil in her new world. "Are equally as low ranking. They believe you don't deserve your magic and like to make you remember that."

"One person in particular became powerful. He believed it was right to punish muggle-borns, people like you. He collected followers and taught them dark magic. They made racial slurs and tortured innocent people all out of sheer malice. They formed their group, known as the Death Eaters, under the leadership of the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort." Luna stated. Hermione turned pale once again with worry; of course there was a dark side. The whole room felt smaller with fear and Ginny looked nervous. The name echoed in an eerie way that made all the girls shrink into their seat.

"The death eaters began to get aggressive, to publicly perform acts of torture and pillage towns. The whole wizarding world went into hiding and feared for their lives."

"My mum won't speak of those times. My dad will sometimes though; he helped the good side and well, he has seen a lot," Ginny said quietly. Hermione was nervous.

Luna gave a small smile to Ginny before continuing. "A special group of people called the Order of the Phoenix was formed. Its members were trained Aurors, our version of FBI agents or spies, at least I think that's a decent analogy. I went a lot of muggle summer school classes when I was younger because my mum was fond of them. She always said we could learn a lot from them." Luna smiled at Hermione. "Anyway, they're dark wizard catchers and they were some of the best in the world. But since it's the magical world, fighting cannot be simple. While they fought for power a new piece of information got out and changed everything: a prophecy."

Hermione gasped. "A prophecy? Like a prediction? You're telling me that telling the future exists and is practiced?"

"Yes, but don't get your hopes up," Ginny said bluntly. "It might seem all cool but unless you really are blessed with seeing, you don't do shit in that class. We stared at tea leaves for three weeks straight and I saw nothing." Hermione gave a small chuckle. Okay, there was bound to be something she might not like about the wizarding world besides prejudice.

"Anyway, a prophecy foretold of a boy being born in July that would be the one capable of stopping Voldemort," Luna began again. "Basically, the Order knew the prophecy first but some of it got out, leaked to the other side. Voldemort decided to act and kill his enemy as soon as he was born, ensuring his reign couldn't be stopped."

"That's vile, are you telling me he was perfectly okay with killing a infant?" Hermione asked, appalled.

"Hermione this guy tortures and kills people and laughs about it! Get with it, he didn't care it was a baby," Ginny's anger flared and Hermione drew back a little. "Sorry. I don't mean to snap it's just, this story always pisses me off. Harry didn't fucking chose this life!" she stated. Hermione blinked. Ginny's boyfriend was the baby Voldemort targeted.

"Ginny? Oh my God but Harry's alive, what the hell happened?!" she was desperate to hear the rest of this story. It was mixed with both the good and bad of the magical world and she just couldn't believe it. How this connected to present day, she was just dying to know!

"Well, his parents died. They sacrificed themselves to try and save Harry," Ginny said sadly. She sniffled before continuing. "When Voldemort tried to kill Harry however, his spell backfired. Something went wrong. He was vanquished and Harry was the boy who lived."

"That's beautifully tragic, I'm sorry," said Hermione sincerely and quietly. The room was silent for a few minutes out of respect in a sense and Hermione waited for one of the girls to keep going.

Luna was the first to find her voice again. "Everyone thought it was over. The last of the death eaters were caught, put on trial, the Ministry was cleaned up a bit. Things seemed better. Harry was given to his Aunt and Uncle in the muggle world to grow up so he wouldn't be exposed to the limelight right away. You see, no one has ever survived the Killing Curse; Harry was, and is, a celebrity of sorts. He's famous."

"Yeah except his Aunt and Uncle were shit," Ginny said nastily. "They treated him like he should be undyingly grateful they took him in. Half his life he spent living in a fucking cupboard."

"A cupboard? Are you kidding me?!" Hermione said wildly. "How the hell did child services not get involved, let alone how did his Aunt and Uncle allow such a thing! Ugh Gin I'm so sorry for Harry, I really am! His whole life has been a mess, he hasn't even gotten a chance to _live_! It's just awful," Hermione sniffled feeling sad hearing the story of Harry's survival thus far.

It was a truly epic story and she couldn't help but think it wasn't fair for him to have to live a life he didn't chose, his parents gone from him at one years old. How terrible. She tried to ignore thinking of Malfoy and how he probably didn't choose to have those pureblood values spewed down his throat either. She sighed.

"Thanks Hermione, really. He got to spend quite a few summers at my house after he met my brother at least, so it got better… well not really, only kind of," Ginny said, sighing too. "Harry coming to Hogwarts for the first time was a big deal and bad things started happening."

Hermione grew stern once again. "Harry became best friends with my brother Ron and he used to write to me about some scary things that were going on and some things that they probably shouldn't have been getting into. They're troublemakers the both of them. Of course, I wasn't friends with Luna yet, or I'm sure I would have heard from her too. She became friends with Harry and Ron, not exactly by their choice but I'm glad they're all so close now," explained Ginny.

Luna smiled, appearing like she was reminiscing meeting the boys all over again. But Hermione's curiosity couldn't be stopped. "So what happened? Voldemort came back to try and kill Harry again? How?" she questioned, biting her tongue to resist asking about Malfoy again. She was just too confused about how he fit into all this. "Didn't you say he was vanquished the first time though? How can someone not stay dead? It's not logical, at least not in the regular world."

"That's just it," Ginny said. "He must have done something to make himself not die, which is rare even for wizards. Meddling with time and immortality is still a very new and very dangerous field of magic to get involved with. The headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, is the most powerful wizard in the world. He's been trying to protect Harry all these years and he was trying to find out how Voldemort was staying alive. During our 6th year at school, Dumbledore believed Voldemort used dark magic to produce immortality. He told Harry right before he died of what he suspected."

"The most powerful wizard in the world isn't even alive to help with this whole thing?!" Hermione asked, upset.

"It was a really bad time for everyone when we found out," Ginny mentioned, sounding teary.

"I- I'm sorry. Well, what did Voldemort do to himself to gain immortality?" Hermione asked nervously. She was unsure she wanted to hear how this was going to play out. Dark magic? This Voldemort guy sounded absolutely crazy. What kind of person believed that it was okay to degrade another human? She shivered again, a small voice in the back of her head reminding her that Malfoy apparently did.

"He found a way to preserve a portion of his soul so he can live essentially forever," Luna explained.

"Preserve a portion of his-?" Hermione couldn't even complete the sentence. She was so in shock at the immensity of Luna's statement. The human soul was a myth in the non-magical world; there was no proof it existed and there was no way of knowing for certain. Some believed in souls, soulmates, reincarnation. And here Luna was, suggesting splitting one. Fear crept over the room and the three girls in a matter of seconds.

Hermione had been ecstatic to join this beautiful, magical world and to have it suddenly tainted with darkness and evil was overwhelming. She was scared, that was for sure and she couldn't fathom how she slept with a guy like Malfoy, who was clearly into some pretty dark things himself. How could someone full of such shit have made her feel so incredibly good? _Ugh don't think about him!_

"Yes you heard correct. His soul. Hermione, dark magic can do terrible things. You can reach new levels that should not be ventured in. And we aren't really sure how far he went, he's returned at least three times. In our first year, he embodied one of the professors without anyone knowing. He lived off him and drank unicorn blood to survive. Another bad omen in the wizarding world, killing unicorns, let alone drinking their blood."

"They're such pure animals," Luna was quiet, distaste evident in her voice. "In second year Voldemort acted through a diary of his 16 year old self. He was able to manipulate people, he talked to Harry and then, Ginny. Harry destroyed it eventually and saved the school. He rescued Ginny actually."

Hermione's jaw dropped. Ginny looked away, her face turning dark and angry. She clearly didn't like hearing about that time in her life. It must have been a pretty bad experience, whatever happened back then. Maybe that was why she was so in love with Harry; he was a true hero to her. Hermione decided it best to ask Luna about it later, when Ginny wasn't around.

Luna glanced at Ginny and, upon seeing her face, gave a frown. "Sorry Gin, I know you hate thinking about your first year," but Ginny just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, she seemed to calm down. Luna decided it was okay to continue.

"In fourth year a few of Voldemort's old followers went looking for him. A servant nursed him back to health using more dark magic. That year, we had a magical tournament with two other schools. It was dangerous and Harry somehow got entered even though he was not of age to participate; people took it the wrong way, thought he was just doing it for attention. It wasn't pretty," Luna said.

"We didn't find out until later that the whole thing had been a setup. Harry's name was entered and the game fixed so that when he got to the prize, it transported him straight to Voldemort. Harry was the only witness to him coming back to life. When Voldemort returned to his own body this time, he just wasn't fully human."

"Wait, so Harry was completely tricked and everyone was a piece of shit to him because they were jealous? Am I getting this right?" Hermione wasn't happy. Stupidity like that wasn't bias against wizards or regular people; she had known plenty of awfully dumb kids that would get jealous for just the same kinds of things at her school. "And what do you mean, he wasn't human?"

"Yes, other students were complete arses to Harry. They avoided him in the halls, spread shitty rumors. Even my own brother turned against him for a while; he has severe jealousy issues. Always wants to feel important and, in our huge family, I don't blame him. It's easy to get overshadowed," Ginny mentioned. "I'm just lucky I'm the only girl."

"As for the human part, Harry found out, through Dumbledore, that in order to make himself immortal Voldemort had to rip his soul. The soul is precious, to do that can cause detrimental effects and now, Voldemort doesn't appear real; his skin is pale smoke and his eyes red. He appears like a snake and he seems more powerful than ever. It's scary," Luna shuddered as she spoke. Hermione sat, her mouth open, unable to even form words. This was just too crazy of a story to be real.

"But Harry obviously triumphed again. He saw Voldemort return and managed to escape. But being the only witness the Minister of Magic grew nervous and scrutinized the whole situation. The bloody government always has to get involved, the corrupt little bastards," Ginny's faith in the wizarding governing body was clear in her aggressive remarks. And she didn't stop there. "The Minister is actually kind of dumb; he believed Dumbledore was just after his job and was having Harry fake Voldemort's return to scare the public. Make them think he wasn't good at his job and that they should vote for someone else. The papers, the hallways, everywhere was full of bullshit rumors and remarks."

"I take it that Harry had a pretty hard time with all that propaganda," Hermione said solemnly. She couldn't imagine walking hallways wondering whether people believed you were telling the truth or lying for profit. That kind of scrutiny would drive anyone mad.

"He did. People in school didn't know what to believe. People like us, his close friends, well I tend to believe him no matter what. We didn't start really dating until sixth year but we were friends before then. I've always been fond of him," said Ginny, blushing the tiniest bit. "He was a mess all of fifth year. Was seeing Voldemort in his thoughts, in his dreams. He saw him attack my dad at the Ministry one night and it saved my dad's life."

"That's completely terrifying," Hermione whispered. This was getting more and more like some storybook fantasy with good and evil clashing left and right. It was surreal to believe these things actually took place. Voldemort was able to invade Harry's thoughts and dreams? The darker this story turned, the more Hermione was nervous to find out about present day.

"My dad was guarding a sort of weapon that us good guys were hoping to keep from Voldemort and his followers," Ginny said, but she looked unsure how to continue.

Luna filled Hermione in with the extra details. "See, there is a side of magic devoted to seeing 'the beyond.' Basically reading tea leaves, tracing the stars, looking in crystal balls. And making predictions. It's called Divination. People that believe they have the power of the beyond are known to predict prophecies; they become rigid, their voices change, and they tell of some future event occurring. Because it's easy for little things to completely change the outcome of events, many witches and wizards don't put much stock in Divination."

"I've always hated it," Ginny cut in. "The teacher is bat-shit crazy and I used to just make stuff up. But anyway, the Ministry keeps a record of all known prophecies and, surprise: there's one about Harry and Voldemort."

Hermione's eyes grew wide and she looked from Ginny to Luna. "Seriously? What does it say, do you know?"

"Well, we do now. But the thing about prophecies is they can be vague and are usually difficult to interpret with the way they're worded. Back when Voldemort had attacked Harry the first time, he had heard of the prophecy but never the real words or the full prediction. When he returned fourth year, he was obviously livid that Harry had managed to defeat him three times already. He worried that, in rushing to apprehend Harry the first time, he had missed some important piece of information," explained Luna.

"So, people decided to guard the prophecy and that's how your dad got hurt?" Hermione guessed. The logic was easy enough to follow. Ginny's dad was guarding the prophecy and was attacked but they saved him thanks to Harry's visions. Unbelievable in her current world, but in the wizarding world it must have been logical.

"Exactly. The Order of the Phoenix took turns guarding it, some of the most skilled witches and wizards the world has seen in years. The thing is, only those mentioned in the prophecy can collect it. When Voldemort tried to attack Ginny's dad, Harry was able to inform the Order and prevent Voldemort from getting it," Luna said.

"As much as its bad Harry has a connection through his mind with this psychopath, at least it came in handy for something," Hermione tried, but Luna shook her head.

"Or so we thought. Voldemort may be a terribly evil piece of shit, but he's still powerful and cunning. He decided then to use his connection through Harry's mind to lure Harry into retrieving the prophecy instead. Voldemort showed Harry a lie he knew he'd believe. He showed his death eaters torturing Harry's godfather in the hall of prophecies. Harry would never let a loved one suffer for him and he is much too brave."

Hermione's eyes were wide once again. "What? Don't tell me he wanted to go all the way to this hall to fight back!"

"Obviously he did. You don't know Harry, always the hero. Always," Ginny said. "He tried to go by himself and make us stay behind. So chivalrous, but we went with him in the end. He relies on sheer luck without us and we couldn't let him have all the fun," Ginny laughed a little despite being such a serious subject. She hoped the joke would ease Hermione's nerves a little. Hermione was currently hanging on the edge of her spot on the couch, leaning over and looking eager.

"What- How- You left school?!" Hermione gaped. "How did you get there? What the hell! Tell me!"

"We flew actually," Luna smiled. "Thestrals. They're invisible, skeletal-like horses with wings. Beautiful really. I visited them a lot in the forest that year, so I knew where to find them."

"Easy for you to say, you can see them," Ginny stated. When she saw Hermione's utter look of shock she remembered once again Hermione's newness to the whole of the magical world. She had no idea about invisibility or magical creatures. "Basically if you have witnessed death, you can see these things. It's a weird sort of magic but Harry freaked out last year when he saw them pulling the school carriages. We take them from the train station up to the school on the first day we arrive. Luna told us she could see them and we were all in awe."

Hermione looked sadly to Luna, who gave a reluctant smile. Before Hermione could say sorry Luna spoke. "My mum, when I was 9. She discovered four new spells that year and that one would have been number five. She was incredibly inventive."

Hermione gave an apologetic look anyway and Ginny continued, now enlivened with the retelling of what she considered the more exciting years. "So we all had our first battle that day. Took place in the hall of prophecies which are kept in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry," Ginny said and her lightness of tone made the conversation feel off.

Shouldn't she be scared and hurt, recalling a battle? Hermione definitely thought so. This was a change from the tense features she held at the mention of the diary only minutes ago. "Um, battle?" Hermione asked, eyebrows raised, hoping Ginny misspoke.

"So Voldemort tricked us, he wasn't even there. He didn't have Sirius either, Harry's godfather. He just wanted to lead Harry there so his death eaters could force him to retrieve it for him. So clever, yet his death eaters are not as quick as he is," Ginny explained quickly. "That was the first time I produced a viable Stupefy Spell!" She smiled proudly despite the unnerved feeling evident on Hermione's face that Ginny had to use what she could only guess was a defensive spell to begin with.

"The death eaters attacked us but the Order figured out what we were doing in no time. They came for us and saved us, but sometimes fate isn't as kind," Luna said. She looked to Ginny, to see if she'd rather speak.

Instead of speaking Ginny coughed; she was no longer as lighthearted about the fight as she had previously been. Something about the conversation had turned back to tragedy and it seemed that Ginny's emotions flipped once again. She drew back into her chair.

"Harry lost his godfather in that fight, and he's felt guilty ever since," Ginny began. She was once again quiet and morose. "Harry had tried to learn Occlumency, shutting off your mind to others, but the teacher teaching him didn't like him. It made it difficult for Harry to learn and he didn't put as honest an effort into it. He thinks if he had just approached the situation differently and looked past his grudges, he wouldn't have seen what Voldemort wanted him to and Sirius would still be alive."

Ginny looked deeply troubled, her concern for Harry noticeable across her features. She curled her legs up into her chest. Hermione could tell Ginny truly loved Harry, as she hugged her own knees; it was as if she wished she were hugging him instead. This whole story was such a whirlwind of excitement, danger, and tragedy, it was no wonder Ginny's emotions were so messed up and changed as quick as day. Hermione felt deeply sorry for her friends.

"How can he be so hard on himself?" she asked. "Doesn't he realize that the people who care for him are willing to protect him and sacrifice for him? He didn't ask for this, he shouldn't have to fight alone."

"No, he doesn't realize," Luna said. "He is too good of heart and too full of care for others."

"And that is what makes him so special," Ginny whispered. She smiled very small and looked out the window, longing still in her eyes. A tear escaped Hermione's own eyes as the realization hit her of just how much these girls, and Harry and all their friends, have endured. She was still curious and scared for what else there was, but Ginny and Luna had both stopped talking. They were quiet in their own need to collect their thoughts and emotions and Hermione wasn't about to take that from them.

But in the silence Hermione had no control over her own racing thoughts. She thought about the sorting hat and the houses at Hogwarts and wands and spells. She thought of Harry and Luna and Ginny at school, hanging out and laughing instead of dealing with dangerous, magical criminals. It was sad to think their lives were so marked up with tragedy.

She thought about battles and spells flying every which way. She thought of this Voldemort character and just how vile he must appear. She thought of Harry's poor godfather, his parents, his friend Dumbledore. Harry had lost so much and he was still fighting. She admired his hope and courage, even without knowing him.

After several minutes, Hermione finally found her voice. She just had to know the end. "So… what about now?" Hermione asked, wondering if it was okay to speak. Her voice sounded weak and apologetic and Luna managed a weak smile.

She sighed. "Well, after that we spent a year in Hogwarts kind of unsure of everything really. We didn't know what would happen next, we didn't know where Voldemort was or what he was up to. The Order busied themselves with making preparations for war; it felt the same as it did back when he was in the peak of his power," Luna stated. "The year began normal, except Dumbledore began confiding in Harry more than ever. It was as if he suddenly felt Harry had the right to know his own fate. Mind you, we still had no clue about the soul splitting business at this point. Dumbledore started filling Harry in with information about Voldemort's past, things he figured Harry needed to know in order to eventually face him."

"The prophecy stated that a boy would be born, in the month of July, with the power to destroy the dark lord. It said that neither could live while the other survives. Scary and confusing, no?" Ginny detailed, before Luna could continue.

"Very. They were both alive at various times, so how can that prophecy be true at all?" Hermione questioned, trying to sort out the broken logic.

"Precisely that Hermione, we didn't know how it could be possible either but I think Dumbledore knew," said Luna. "Dumbledore is brilliant and knew about the process of soul splitting beforehand. It wasn't until he and Harry found concrete evidence that they knew what Harry was truly up against."

"And don't forget Harry's completely minor obsession with Malfoy that year too," Ginny's voice wasn't loud but she at least didn't sound as distraught as she had previously been. The sarcasm was there when she said the word 'minor.' Her eyes looked a little pink, like she let a few tears fall without them noticing.

Luna appeared to remember this fact and giggled a little. Hermione just looked nervous; obsessed with Malfoy? Why? What the hell does Malfoy have to do with figuring out how to defeat Voldemort and keep Harry alive?! But there wasn't time for Hermione to sort out logical answers to her questions in her head; Luna was already explaining.

"Oh Merlin he was, I forgot about that!" Luna said. "Malfoy wasn't the same when he came back that year; he looked ill. You have to understand, before that year he walked around like he was royalty. He always had some snide remark against Harry since his parents were clearly on Voldemort's side. It wasn't a secret that they were and he didn't seem to understand the bigger picture of what was actually happening. But that year, he started avoiding people, wasn't arrogant or standoffish. Kept to himself."

"Yeah, it was the best year for us Gryffindors in that sense. No dumbass comments and backhanded slurs in class. Just peace for once," Ginny said harshly. Luna gave her a look.

"It was very peculiar and Harry was obsessed with knowing why. I told him it was probably just family pressure. What with Voldemort back and all, the death eaters were already falling back in ranks, the Order found that out easily. And Malfoy's dad was certainly high ranking, they definitely wanted him to join them."

"He was almost of age, he would have been offered a nice spot too," Ginny was spiteful and it showed in her voice. She wanted to show Hermione the true Malfoy. Hermione straightened, trying to hide her shock.

She figured the Malfoys were a bunch of snotty arses from what Ginny and Luna had already told her but she didn't think they'd go as far as join some cult of violent racists. He'd come off as an ordinary college guy, albeit even cockier than most. What kind of person can be so nonchalant and yet be part of something so wickedly terrible?

The more she thought about it the worse it sounded in her head. "Are you serious? Do you think he'd do it? I mean, join and all? Sure he'd grown up with all that bullshit at home, but I can't imagine it would escalate to violence. A mother couldn't let their son get involved with something like that."

For some reason Hermione found herself defending him and she had no idea why. She thought about him complimenting her and how he'd kissed her and touched her waist. It just didn't make sense. She could sense something more in him, something about him that still drew her attention. Hermione wasn't good at letting unsolved mysteries go unsolved and she cursed herself for it. She felt conflicted.

"We're not sure," Luna sounded worried then, almost as if she felt bad for him. Ginny looked up.

"He's a shit person Luna, don't try to make it better. We're sorry to have to tell you Hermione, but he's awful. He wouldn't hesitate to call you some pretty vile things if he knew your blood status. I hate to see him when finds out you're a muggle-born," Ginny was harsh but she needed to be. Hermione looked over, half regretful again.

"Yes, I get it. He's shit okay! But I can't deny that I had a great night with him," said Hermione, completely unsure of how she was feeling on the subject still. "I just… I have a hard time believing he's completely lost to this bad side. He had to have friends that thought differently? Blaise was incredibly kind to me."

"Blaise and his other pal Theo come from just as dangerous of families. They were raised in much the same way as Malfoy. They all took the extent of those teachings differently and, I'm sorry to tell you Hermione, it appeared that Malfoy took them the most seriously," Ginny hoped Hermione could see it this way. With the past interactions her family had with his, she clearly couldn't see past his overtly pompous demeanor. "He was the ringleader in their shitty gang of socialites." Hermione's lip quavered slightly at the harshness of Ginny's words.

"Towards the end of sixth year, the school was attacked. Someone had helped death eaters sneak into the castle and well, no one really had doubts on who it was," Ginny stated, knowing Hermione was clever enough to know who.

Luna cut in, not happy with the accusations flying left and right. "Luckily the school was able to evacuate before any real fighting took place. It wasn't pretty and, while we wanted to stay and fight, we obviously weren't allowed. Harry was caught in the middle but Dumbledore kept him safe until the very end. Dumbledore died then, saving a lot of people. Everyone fled after that," Luna got quieter. "The castle's been vacant since, too unsafe right now to run a school." It got quiet once again.

"I'm so sorry, to both of you for, for everything," Hermione managed. She waited before continuing. "What… what happens now?"

Ginny sighed. "The Order of the Phoenix and Voldy and his death eaters have been fighting ever since. Nothing major has happened since that little battle at Hogwarts, but there have been a lot of encounters, spies and strategy formations. It's preparation for a war." The room felt small and while she was scared, Hermione's mind raced with questions.

"And Harry? Is he leading all this, he's my age isn't he? You said he and Ron were dealing with riots at the beginning of the year, but I feel like that was a cover up at the time," Hermione reminded them.

"Ah, yeah it kind of was," Ginny said. "While we've been preparing and spying for a few years now, we're still at a standstill. Before Dumbledore died, he and Harry found the clue to the whole war. Voldemort couldn't die because he was successful in splitting his soul… seven times."

Hermione gasped. "Se- seven times?" Luna had made it clear that ripping your soul was very damaging to begin with; what would seven times do? Hermione couldn't fathom.

"Yes seven," Luna said reluctantly. "It's a part of magic that has never been dealt with. You have to commit the worst act, murder, in order to perform the curse. The piece of your soul that breaks off can be preserved in an item. We don't know too much about them, but they're called Horcruxes. We figured the diary was one."

Ginny spoke up, keeping the discussion going. "The problem with horcruxes is that because they contain a part of someone, they have a sort of mind of their own. They can keep themselves safe because of the powerful magic in them and we've spent ages trying to research how to destroy them."

"Harry destroyed the diary with the fang of a basilisk," said Luna. "It's a giant snake. Their venom is incredibly deadly to humans, killing them in mere minutes. We can only assume it works the same with horcruxes but so far that's the only thing we know that destroys them."

Hermione sat quietly thinking of all the sadness experienced by her new friends. These girls had seen so much and knew so much; it was no wonder Ginny worked out to the point of exhaustion and Luna was always reading or drawing. They needed distractions from this scary fantasy that to them was complete and utter reality. Hermione couldn't fathom all these terrible things going on in what she had imagined as a safe haven for herself. It just wasn't fair.

Suddenly Hermione felt overcome with the desire to help. She felt almost obligated. With all they had just revealed to her, their quick acceptance of her into their world and lives, and for the sheer greater good of the matter, she couldn't let it go. She couldn't just let the evil acts of one person and his followers continue like this, causing so much tragedy. She had just become a part of this world and wasn't ready to give it up that easily. There had to be something, right?

"Where… where are the rest of these horcrux things?" she managed, trying to organize the situation in her mind. If they could plan out where they were and destroy each one, wouldn't it make it so this Voldemort guy couldn't survive any longer? They probably had some kind of plan.

Luna answered her, but her voice sounded defeated. "The problem is we can't be sure. We only know as much as Dumbledore told Harry and well, Voldemort was obsessive and crazy. He was an orphan who didn't have relatives or that many close friends. He was obsessed with objects from our school and the founders because he found a home there."

"But that leaves us with jack shit for where they could be," Ginny scoffed. "Voldemort isn't exactly stupid. He's going to have hid them and he's going to have protected them with Merlin knows what magical spells and enchantments. They could be fucking anywhere, like a drug addict hiding his stash."

Ginny's words were sharp in the air and Luna sighed heavily. The girls sat quiet for a while again, all lost in their own contemplation of a war. While Ginny and Luna knew just what a war with dark magic could mean, Hermione still had no true idea. Ginny and Luna seemed to hint at all that dark magic from the past but what did that mean for the wizarding world right now? Was all this prejudice going to rise again and cause real disaster? Hermione sat, cradling her lukewarm teacup, her mind quickly filling up with even more questions.

…


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate/co-harry potter fanatic/literally one of my best friends is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

 **Thanks so much for the positive reviews of chapter 10! I literally smile at my phone when I get reivews it's the greastest (either that or i'm just that pathetic... whatever)**

 **enjoy some angsty Draco. Damn he's got issues.**

Draco lay, sprawled in discontent, on the couch by the door waiting for Blaise or Theo to come up with something else. It had been two hours since breakfast where the initial shock of finding another magical person at their school had worn off. However, they still were no further in figuring out a plan of action.

He was still thinking about her and all they'd done last night. He couldn't get her out of his head; those thighs, those red cheeks, that voice. Where could she have come from, whose side was she on, was she really a half-blood? Question after question raced through Draco's mind and they wouldn't stop. He put a hand over his eyes to attempt to soothe the ache starting to form.

Blaise kept scratching at the collar of his shirt, like he were unbearably uncomfortable and Theo sat, twirling his wand on the coffee table. "Well if we could just get in communication with someone we trust, we could get some dirt on this girl," Theo said.

"Except we've been completely unsuccessful with figuring out any sort of communication that could work," Blaise reminded him. "And I don't know anyone I'd trust to ask for help without them turning us in. Maybe Pansy, if she didn't kill Draco first for sleeping with someone else." Draco gave a short laugh.

"I don't understand how she honestly thought you didn't sleep with anyone else all through Hogwarts," said Theo, only making Draco laugh more.

"Not too bright that one," said Draco.

"What, not like Hermione then, the girl from last night? You never did quite explain why she left so soon besides the nightmare or you know, anything you might have discussed that could give us a clue to her identity," Blaise stated, still a sense of bitterness lingering in his voice. They could tell he was trying to push it away; he was more agitated by her being magical at this point.

Draco flinched nonetheless. He didn't like being called out because that was exactly what he was thinking of: her. He couldn't stop and he didn't know if it was because they needed to figure out who she was or that he actually wanted to remember the way she had felt against him. He shook his head in annoyance.

"It's the same one, the nightmare. The one about my dad using the Imperius on me the night after that meeting last summer. I was in pretty bad shape when he found me in the garden, I wasn't nice either. I'm sure I was flinching and mumbling enough crazy shit to scare anyone off," Draco's jaw tightened. "But otherwise, I was far too interested in getting her home than finding out anything about her."

It was mostly the truth; Draco didn't mention to Blaise and Theo how he had actually talked the whole walk home with her. He had been wasted so he only remembered half the things she had said, but it had been a fairly normal conversation. Whatever.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Leave it to you to be led by your dick rather than your brain. Did you honestly not think to ask her about the Ravenclaw uniform or the wandless magic at all?"

"Honestly I did consider the fact it was illogical for someone I've never seen before this year to have a Hogwarts uniform," the bitterness in Draco's tone growing stronger. "But I disregarded it once I'd talked to her. I had drank plenty before seeing her so I couldn't help myself. She looked great and I got her attention easy enough with your help."

Draco hoped mentioning Blaise's involvement would get Blaise off his back, but it did the opposite. Blaise looked even more annoyed. "Yes, sending me off like that was real clever, you must be so proud."

"You're the one that actually believed me," Draco reminded him.

"Yes, alright I did but that's beside the point now. Why didn't you tell us last night when you saw the magic? You had plenty of opportunities alone with me or Theo to mention it!"

"Well for starters I wanted my wand back," laughed Draco. "If you believed she was still a muggle and I slept with her I'd win. And like you said the first night Blaise, she's the first girl to actually give me a run at my own game so I wasn't going to just ignore her when I saw her," he explained.

"You said she was good for him after that first night Blaise?" Theo chuckled after listening to Draco plead his own case. "That's like asking him to go after her."

"Yes, I actually did," Blaise replied, "because I was impressed with her ability to stand up for herself and not let him walk all over her just because he was a nice sight on the eyes and she knew how rich he was." Blaise still sounded frustrated. "But I thought she was a muggle then so it was an ulterior motive. I wanted to get him to change his ways."

"So Draco, flirting with muggle girls doesn't bother you anymore, you sure you aren't willing to go further?" chided Theo.

"Listen, I came here willingly didn't I, to this muggle place? And I might have been a bit standoffish about muggles at first but I'm okay with them now. I go out with them and see them in class. I'm trying," Draco defended but his argument fell short. He didn't have the heart to tell them it was hard to shake his shitty reputation that was built for him by family.

"Yes but before you knew she was a witch you continually sought to make her life miserable and find ways to chat with her," said Blaise. "Was that because she was a muggle and you wanted to make her suffer or because her arguments were actually valid against you so you felt compelled to counter?"

Draco gave a heavy sigh. He didn't want to fight with his friends over this, but he knew Blaise was on to something. They had been best friends for so many years that it was easy for Blaise to read even his most guarded emotions.

"Well hell, I'm not going to let an intelligent, attractive girl like her escape me. I don't know what it is about her," Draco started. "Maybe I sensed she was magical and that's why I kept it up. She was fun to talk to, fierce and all, wouldn't give me the time of day if I asked nicely for once. Blaise, you liked her too, and still might I'm not sure, so there's that. She was different than a normal muggle girl okay, I just knew it. I don't' know why I kept talking to her but I did."

"I liked her, you did get that correct. But I've already slept with muggle girls mate, I don't really care what her blood status is. But for the little death eater himself to jump in bed with what he'd consider dirty blood? That's something else," Blaise said seriously.

Draco gritted his teeth. "Don't call me that."

"Fine, but answer me this, can you really prove she's a half-blood just because she can do magic and is successful at a muggle uni? Because I can bet you that a muggleborn could do just about the same…"

Blaise let his words sink into the air in the room and everything grew tense. It had been like someone had dumped cold water on Draco. He sat in a state of shock, his eyes looking like a storm about to break. He blinked several times before he could find his voice, his hands clenching in fists. "What do you mean, muggleborn?"

"You very well know what I mean Draco, don't tell me you didn't think it when Theo mentioned she could be half-blood earlier," Blaise said sternly. "She could be a half-blood but she could also have no magical lineage at all. And what do you think your dad would have to say about that?" Blaise finished, the anger fresh.

The words bit at Draco's thoughts and he hated hearing them. Blaise had intentionally mentioned his father, to get Draco to consider the reality of the situation or to spite Draco for getting with the girl he had wanted. Draco wasn't sure which it was but he didn't care; he got up without saying anything and walked to the front door. He let it slam behind him as he took off into the brisk November air, his mind reeling.

...

It was late into the night and the girls still sat, Hermione wide awake, as they continued to talk of magic and wands and spells. She was told of Hogwarts Castle and its beautiful, changing ceiling. She heard about owl post and flying brooms and love potions. She heard of spells for fixing mistakes on papers and spells for growing your hair and people who could shapeshift into animals. Of magical plants and Tri-Wizard Tournaments and St. Mungo's. Of magical creatures and N.E.W.T tests and Apparation and the Ministry of Magic. There seemed to be an unending amount of ever curious things that could be discussed and Hermione was eager to devour it all.

Hermione currently sat on her bed holding Ginny's wand and waving it in the air. She loved the feeling of the wand in her hand but couldn't help but feel a little silly.

"This is unreal," Hermione gushed. "I feel like I should be in a movie or some kind of fantasy story book!" Ginny watched and on her fourth try Hermione sent the piece of paper in front of her a few inches across the bed. Her smile became huge and excited.

"Not unreal but utterly cool," Ginny said laughing at Hermione's excitement. "It's cute you're so excited."

Hermione blushed and Luna patted her knee. "Ginny just means it's rather interesting to see someone our age see magic for the first time. Normally the innocence factor of being a child and discovering something as amazing as magic is quite the experience, but for you it's different."

"How so?" Hermione asked, wondering whether it was weird or not that she be so fascinated with what she considered an impossible skill until recently.

"It's more genuine," Ginny said slowly. "You can tell how much it means to you. Your heart is already in it." Hermione blushed again, feeling overwhelmed.

It meant the world to her to have finally found a safe place where she didn't feel ostracized because of her own secrets. She felt comfortable around these girls from the start and now it was like she found new hope. She smiled, hoping it would be enough of a response lest she cry in front of them again.

"So where does this leave us now?" Hermione asked after pausing to get her emotions under check. As much as she wanted to immediately learn everything in sight about magic, she knew it wasn't going to happen in one single night. Besides, it was the week before midterms.

Luna laughed. "Well, we can start teaching you magic, it would be the least we can do."

"And I kind of really need your help for all my muggle classes still anyway…" Ginny said reluctantly. "I'm terrible at all this Algebra. Who knew numbers could be so complicated! I'd give anything for a Transfiguration class instead!"

Hermione just beamed. "Of course! We can figure out as we go, I don't want to take up too much of your time; you'll need it for midterms! And I do have to warn you, I get a little crazy around this time of year, important grades coming up and all," she said, embarrassed.

She now could see just how lost Ginny must be in her classes; it was how she was now seeing the magical world, complicated and new. It was kind of nice to realize they had something in common like this. It only made their new friendship that much stronger.

"Well how about we put an end to the magic tonight," Luna said then, realizing the extent of material they had just bombarded Hermione with all day. "It's a lot to take in, this new world, and I don't want you to get too overwhelmed too fast." She smiled at Hermione.

"True, but I meant it when I said I want to help you! We can't let some crazy arsehole like this Moldmort person screw everybody over," Hermione said courageously. "That's not how equality works." Ginny laughed.

"It's Voldemort, but I like that too," Ginny said. "And honestly, we'll take all the help we can get, just don't say we didn't warn you. This shit is not for the fainthearted. This guy is not ordinary crazy and neither are his followers."

Ginny, who sounded very serious, looked sternly at Hermione to judge her reaction. Her tone was almost a threat as she mentioned his followers; Hermione could only think Ginny meant Malfoy.

But Hermione stood her ground, she felt compelled to help. She merely shrugged; if it had been anyone else thrust into this world at this moment, they probably would have opted out. Yet Hermione had the determination and bravery many envied with schoolwork and standing up to assholes that pushed her around. She had the ability to change things you could just tell. It was scary, the passion behind her eyes at the moment but her mind was made up.

"Alright, well we will come over as soon as we can after our class review tomorrow. How does that sound?" Luna spoke, hoping her light tone would lead the conversation back on topic.

"That's great, I originally had planned to get a jump start on research tonight and then get right into my papers tomorrow, so come whenever," Hermione explained, thinking back to academics. It felt like ages since she'd been in class on Friday and a week of studying and cramming was about to begin. Midterms were the following week after and they needed all the time they could to prepare.

She sighed and looked at Ginny and Luna as they stood to go. "Thank you, truly." Ginny and Luna both gave sincere smiles before leaving.

Left alone Hermione laid back on her own bed, blinking at the ceiling. She felt like everything was surreal; the magic, the craziness of the night before. The secrets Ginny and Luna shared cycled in and out of Hermione's thoughts so quickly she felt dizzy.

She reveled in all the new knowledge of the world she had longed for for so long. She was overcome with a mix of happiness and excitement but she couldn't stop the uneasy feeling that had settled in the back of her mind. It crept back to remind her of how scared she should be.

Ginny and Luna hadn't told her everything, but they told her enough to not think lightly of all the rioting and preparation taking place. And with Ginny's small threat only moments ago she knew not to think this was going to be a walk in the park to fix years of prejudiced witches and wizards. The girls were in hiding, forced from their homes for standing up for what was right. How tragically wrong the whole situation was.

Even worse, Hermione couldn't help thinking of the bigger picture of it all. The historical fights for civil rights that Hermione had taken time to learn about in regular schooling would be good insight into how this wizarding war could unfold. All those events now shot up like red flags in her memory; the civil rights movement for African Americans, the fight for Women's rights, the Holocaust, just to name a few.

She was well aware of the violence, abuse, and prejudice that plagued history, the lasting impact of consequences even years later. Prejudice in its purest forms. Hermione shivered, seeing the obvious signs that this war within the wizarding world was just adding magic to humanity's normal problems. And she worried what that could mean for her and her friends.

Yet her mind worked logically. For every one of those fights through history there had been powerful people standing their ground. There had been resistance. That's how change had to happen and she wasn't about to stand around while people were being taken advantage of and harmed, especially since they were people just like her.

She shivered again sadly. How could people privileged with such a beautiful gift like magic not want to share it? How could people be so mean that they would hate and insult and harm people for something they cannot control, something like blood status? Aren't we all human? Apparently not everyone felt that way.

And Malfoy. Malfoy was right in the middle of this. Fuck. She flipped over on her bed and searched underneath. She had a desperate need to organize all she'd just thought about, mostly to distract herself from letting her mind wander back to him. She wasn't ready to think about him and all that had happened. She pulled out a large purple notebook and a pen and began writing furiously.

…

After two and a half hours she looked over the list that sprawled several pages, scanning for any lost details. She wasn't sure everything was one hundred percent correct, but at least she got a lot of their details down for later reference. She also marked several questions to remind herself to bring up to Luna and Ginny the next day.

When she finally flipped opened the last page to where she had detailed the lunatic dark lord, she grew cold. She stared at it roughly, it was such an ugly name written down and the rest of the words on the page looked just as vile. She looked down at the descriptions of the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. She had underlined 'horcruxes' and 'soul-splitting' under the latter heading. There was a lot of question marks there too.

She chewed her pen cap, looking over the page again, and she glanced to the margin. She had written the name 'Malfoy' very small there and it appeared as if she had written over it more than a few times. It was off to the side, like she didn't want to fully include it with the dark magic she explained on the lines in the middle. A knot formed in the bottom of her stomach, twisting. It felt like a warning.

Her mind wandered to his touch when they were at the party, how he had danced so wonderfully. She thought of his kisses on the desk and his hands reaching for her as they fell asleep. Was that the same guy Ginny had been accusing of racial cruelty? And then Hermione recalled his anger, all the times he'd been aggressive and spiteful to her. How could someone have such conflicting personalities?

She couldn't shake the bad feeling as she stared one last time at the name. She hated him for taking up so much of her own thoughts. She considered the inevitable war that loomed ahead. Malfoy's family was wrapped up on that dark side and she wondered just what could possibly be going through his mind at a time like this.

She closed the notebook in an unsatisfied huff, deciding to get to sleep. She gathered her bag for the next day and tucked the notebook in with her other books, just in case. She went to the bathroom, realizing Erin's door wasn't open all day. When she went by, the chalkboard on her door read, " Halya's" and Hermione recalled seeing Erin's ex on Erin's arm all night Saturday. She smiled, at least Erin was doing well.

The sex from last night seemed almost insignificant to finding out about the existence of magic, but she lie awake anyway with it on her mind. She kept going over and over all the moves and lines he had used. Of the touches and kisses, and of his seemingly two sided personality.

He just got under her skin, she couldn't explain it. He was so interesting and so dangerous and so attractive, she couldn't doubt that. She did sleep with him and it had been very good, but something was warning her to be wary. When her eyes finally closed she slept restlessly, dreaming of spells and charms and gray eyes and danger.

…

Draco sat, his back against a window. He was in the magical library, the only other place he could think to go. The pane of glass felt cold and the darkness outside was seeping through, casting big shadows. He didn't bother to light the fireplace.

He let his head fall back, still unsure of how to take in all Blaise had said. _Granger,_ Draco thought to himself. _Granger the mudblood._ The words did not seem right now but he kept repeating them.

 _Did I really sleep with someone of non-magical blood?_ He asked himself, _someone with filthy heritage, a mudblood?_ The words were more his father's than his own, echoed from years of hearing such slander casually exchanged over dinner. If she was so filthy and tainted, how come he felt normal, sitting here now?

It confused him. Blaise was fine too, and Theo, who Draco assumed took that redheaded muggle girl home, was also sitting there without a scratch or sneeze of sickness. The ideas of Draco's past swirled around his mind, becoming less logical now.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel differently. His father had made it seem like an abomination to fuck around with a half-blood let alone someone with non-magical blood. And Lucius made it clear that muggles who did magic were even worse, they were stealing what wasn't theirs.

So he had stayed away from muggles and half-bloods all through Hogwarts. He hated them solely for being mudbloods, a word he used often even though he wasn't 100% sure it was bad. He did it because his father wanted him to, he had just been trying to make his father proud.

And Lucius had been. Draco remembered when he turned thirteen and his father made sure that he knew what becoming a man in this family meant. He told him of how to seduce witches and charm his way into their hearts or, more importantly, their skirts. But Lucius made it clear before Draco went back to school to not forget his responsibility to his own bloodlines, lest he be tempted by plenty of early blooming muggle-borns.

"They'd only produce shitty, non-magic offspring one day. Don't taint the Malfoy name," his father had said before he got on the train. Draco frowned at the recollection.

He never explained how he knew this information or why he believed they would produce such shitty kids. Since he was young it was all about expressing and emphasizing his superiority, he knew nothing else.

And now he was here, in a strange new world surrounded by all he had been taught to hate. Coming to this muggle university gave Draco a reality check. A big one. It was becoming clearer that his father's superiority complex was held up by loose ends and no real proof.

Distancing himself had given him time to finally think his own thoughts, form his own opinions without the worry of being scolded or reminded of the proper way. He wasn't sure he had been ready for that and maybe that was why he was doing things unlike himself, like sleeping with a possible mudblood. Maybe that was why he felt like he were falling apart right now.

Sighing heavily, Draco turned to stare out the window. It was already dark, but he could still hear the wind whipping around through the buildings. Winter was coming and it was unsettling with his mixed up thoughts.

He'd arrived in early summer, escaping and hoping to find Blaise. It was a dangerous, rash decision to run away. But he made that decision on his own and that was something. At least Blaise thought it was.

And then there was a pseudo-peace. Fresh off of death eater training Draco was confused what to do now that his time was his own again. He was so used to decisions being made for him and following orders.

Death eaters don't take kindly to deserters though. Draco knew that before he left and he remembered it now. They had to try to fit in so their hiding place did not get discovered.

At first it was hard. All he could think about were the past few months. He didn't belong here. Draco looked down at the tattoo on his forearm, remembering how fresh and dark and new it had been then. He was angry all the time.

Then Blaise got him drunk, which was not in his best interest. Drunk enough to take him to the local muggle bar, where Draco's new lifestyle was challenged. When at least four girls eyed him interestedly within the first ten minutes of their arrival he felt right at home and Blaise wouldn't let him forget. He walked right over to the group of girls at a tall table in the back and well, Draco found himself chatty.

 _Yet you denied it the next day to Blaise over breakfast,_ he told himself. Remembering now, Draco definitely had liked talking to them. He definitely had eyed the one up and down and she reminded him of Pansy in a terrible way, but he eyed her all the same. He felt like his old self, from before all the problems and the war.

After that he started paying much more attention to the muggle girls walking their way around campus and in town. They weren't as plain as he imagined they'd be now that he took the time to actually look at them. Some of them were even attractive. His dad would have thrown up if he heard Draco admit that, he thought now, still sitting in the almost silent library. It was getting late.

His mind jumped to the first muggle party they attended in autumn, when all the college students returned. He met Granger then. She was so clumsy and irritating, spilling her drink on him and all. He had justification for his anger. But then her ability to logic her way out of his insults and formulate her own witty comebacks were things he hadn't been ready for. She sent him off the deep end that night.

After that night he found he couldn't stop thinking about her. It was infuriating. She was different, he didn't know why. Maybe he just had that strong of a desire to get back at Blaise and go after the girl he liked. Draco couldn't say she was ugly.

Draco chuckled darkly, thinking about her giving him candid glances in class and how mad she was when he showed up in her office. She had then proven to be even more interesting when she had been equally as intellectually tempting once he'd ventured a chat with her.

 _So what if she's muggle-born then?_ A loud voice in his head echoed. He sat, alone, still on the floor. Other people were always controlling his life, _my dad obviously and mum. My Aunt Bella for sure. Voldemort. Dumbledore even, at one point, before I even got that vile mission._ So why was he now only just noticing? He closed his eyes, trying to stop the wild thoughts for just one minute.

And he thought back to her arms. They draped around his neck and hadn't she massaged the base of his ear? A shiver tilted his spine. Was that wrong to have enjoyed? And he was honest to himself for the first time in a long time: it had felt anything but wrong. He punched the floor with his fist.

He hated Blaise right now. He had been a right arse in telling Draco his muggle-born theory the way he had. Mentioning Draco's dad was Blaise's ultimate weapon.

Draco felt like his mind was on fire; he didn't know what to believe anymore, his own actions causing him to question his very morals. He hated himself for it and the dark mark on his arm began to sting.

He looked at it after a minute or two and the ink seemed to darken. A shimmer of a protection spell was noticeable near the top of the skull but after a minute it subsided and the ink seemed to fade back to normal. _As if I need even more to worry about,_ Draco yelled at himself. He turned to look out the window, anger welling in his throat.

As he stared at nothing letting the silence drown him, he missed the sound of the trapdoor below. Suddenly Theo and Blaise were on top of him, shuffling around the room. Theo was walking over to light a fire and Draco turned around sharply, looking agitated and sullen. He shifted closer to the window, wanting to stay in the dark.

"Knew you'd only go one of two places," Theo was saying, waving his wand over the logs. A fire sprang to life and the crackling of the burning wood flooded the silence. The light poured out over the floorboards and just reached Draco's face.

"So you've found me, what's it to you?" Draco said harshly. He hadn't expected to see them so soon. He needed more time to think.

"Oh nothing, just checking on you really. Making sure you don't mutilate someone, something, or yourself with all you've most likely been thinking about," Blaise said loftily, taking an armchair.

"Yeah," Theo chimed in, "making sure you didn't die from having your cock inside a muggle but I see you're still standing. Funny how that works." Theo sat down.

Draco looked murderous. "Hilarious," he said through his teeth.

"Draco you know we need to figure out what to do about her," Blaise said sternly to get to the point. "We can't let the discovery of another witch so close go unchecked. We are in hiding for a reason so you might as well just get over this now."

"Get over what exactly?" Draco asked, wanting to know what they thought of him and his reaction. He made no effort to get closer to the fire.

"Ugh, you're playing real thick, you know exactly what we mean. You need to get over these stupid pureblood values that were nothing but garbage," Blaise explained. His voice sounded strained. "You can't keep on going if all you can do is think of vengeance for a group of people you know nothing about."

Draco stayed quiet; Blaise was right. Draco didn't know how to just let go of all he'd ever known. It wasn't exactly easy. A huff of hot air escaped Draco's lips and he put his arms on his knees before resting his chin on top of them.

"It's not fair to hold prejudice against them for something they cannot control," Blaise was stern and the sound of his voice hung in the air. It weighed on Draco's shoulders. "Just because your dad was such a hard ass and controlled your life doesn't mean you can't decide differently. You can choose for yourself. You have to realize it's wrong what they're doing, the death eaters. You've seen it firsthand…"

Draco's features turned defensive. "It's not that easy." His voice was still quiet but it was suddenly cold, threatening. "All I've seen, all I've heard, all that's been done _to me._ You have no idea," he said. They just didn't understand the depth to which he was tied. They didn't have dark marks. They weren't bound to the wrong side. They hadn't suffered the Imperius or Cruciatus.

"How is it not easy Drake? We are literally hundreds of miles away! Across the fucking ocean for Merlin's sake! You haven't had to hear your mum's bitchy comments or your dad's disturbing orders for months. Something has to have made a change in you," Blaise said angrily. He stood, taking a few steps towards Draco, letting the silence build.

Aware of the closer proximity, Draco tensed. He watched Blaise place his wand arm defensively behind him; it was as if he expected a fight. Draco straightened.

"Do you see why this is such an issue? Do you actually understand what's going to happen Draco?" Blaise asked in complete seriousness. He doubted that Draco could see the extent of the war. Blaise had to make him starting questioning his upbringing again, no matter how hard it was for him. "Draco, whether it's fear induced or the Imperius or what, those new movement groups that have been forming, the ones that are basically death eater recruiting forums in disguise? Those aren't going to be just for political rallies on ministry groups, they're going to be for harming people, humans. For harming muggles, muggles like her. Is that fair?"

"Okay okay! I fucking get it! No, it's not fair at all. I don't fucking want that, I don't want to support that shit. Yeah I might still be bitter about muggles but I never wanted them killed, okay! They don't deserve torture," Draco defended himself as best he could in his anger.

It was true, what he said, he just hoped Blaise and Theo would see it that way. With all the violence and abuse in his own house, he never wished that upon anyone.

"So adding more kids like us to their numbers isn't going to help, they're going to get brainwashed! A lot of them aren't going to be able to escape like us. We are going to have to start making an effort to respond to all this, see if we can help the Order at all," Blaise stated, rather boldly.

"You've got to be fucking joking," Draco spat, his anger in full force. He wasn't ready for that rash of action. "Since when are we helping the skipping scar-face and his red-headed sidekick to fix this thing? I agreed to start making changes but I never signed up for this bullshit," said Draco, his wand suddenly slipping from his sleeve into his open hand. Blaise eyed it and took a step back.

"Are you kidding me? Look at our fucking families! Do you really want to go back to those hellholes we called homes? Theo had to fight his dad, I was close to doing so with mine! I know your dad is much, much more unpredictable and has no boundaries, so I get why you didn't. But you need to fucking realize you're either fighting for the Order or Voldemort, and it better not be him," Blaise shot back.

His words resonated in Draco's head. He obviously didn't want to fight for Voldemort, he was here wasn't he? But joining up with the people he had hated for so long seemed foolish; they would not accept his help anyway and would bring up the past he couldn't seem to escape from. But a very small part of him whispered, reminding him he couldn't just sit on the sidelines selfishly either.

He couldn't decide what to say, still fighting to understand the right choice he should make. He knew his friends were just trying to look out for him, but he didn't like looking the fool to them either. He was desperate to escape this conversation and all this backlash, if only it gave him more time to reason out his own ideas. He wasn't used to getting the opportunity to make his own choices anyway.

He gave a look to kill at Blaise before the anger really took over. "Don't act like you can fix me Blaise. It won't work. I told you already I'm too far gone. This mark, the nightmares. It's not going to stop just because I've gotten my cock dirty."

Blaise didn't move and Draco stared at him, eyes threateningly dark. When he stood, Draco's figure leered towards Blaise. Blaise tensed. The grip on Draco's wand was tight and he flashed it particularly close. Theo grew rigid when he noticed the brandished weapons.

"Do you truly believe that Draco? That you've dirtied yourself with her, that you've made yourself not pure? Because I think we both know you felt something more with her and now you just can't figure out how to move the fuck on," Blaise ranted, trying to counter Draco's aggression. "Just accept that you're fine because you are, there's no way around it."

"Piss off Blaise, I don't have to change just because you say so. It won't change the outcome of this bloody war that's going to rip apart everything. It doesn't matter because I've got a death warrant out on me anyway so who fucking cares what I say or believe," his words were sharp and anger flooded through them.

He hated his dad. He hated his family's legacy that was starting to look a lot like an elitist ploy for power. Draco's anger was beginning to overwhelm him and he felt his knuckles tighten into a fist.

For all the shit he'd gone through and all the backwards traditions he'd been taught, his family had loved him. He was loyal to them for that and he felt guilty. He looked at his forearm, the mark twitching with his anger. And this made him loyal in other ways. He was tied down and they were not, and that made all the difference for some reason.

"When are you going to realize that just because we're far away doesn't mean we still don't have a chance to fix things?" Blaise had been trying to hold back his growing anger but it was becoming obvious. He raised his voice. "You had to have had some doubts if you were willing to leave, I mean that, just like Theo and I. It was a difficult decision for all of us, but we had to do it. And now, surrounded by muggles, we've had to adjust. It's not the end of the world and fucking her was just what you needed to actually get with program and man up."

While Blaise might have made this comment lightly, Draco took it anything but. He seethed; in seconds his fist collided with Blaise's left cheek, a solid blow that sent Blaise stumbling. Theo jumped from his seat and rushed over, trying to figure out what to do.

When Draco took a step away, he flexed his fingers with a smile that looked dangerous and his words felt like ice. He was livid. "Don't you dare act like my departure was a walk in the park like your own. It was far from that. I'm too far gone, I mean that. Stop acting like you need to be my fucking savior."

And then Draco was pushing past them, half out the trap door. Blaise was bent over a little, rubbing the spot. His dark skin looked like it was starting to swell and a red welt sat on his cheekbone. Draco was too in his own head to hear him shout, "Fuck off Drake," before he was gone again.

…

"My Lord, there has been no word from Greyback or Yaxley since they left six weeks ago. Since we've gotten rumor that wizarding children are hiding amongst muggles for safety, we've been searching all over, schools, camps, cities, and the like, all over the country. Nothing. I'm sorry my Lord, once again, for my son's behavior. The minute I get my hands on that little, ungrateful piece of shit I'm going to-"

A chillingly soft voice spoke from his spot in front of the fire. "I know Lucius. It seems that our escaped members have really out did themselves. There's no need for so much punishment Lucius, they're just boys after all." It had been five months since they'd seen Draco and even longer since they'd since Blaise. Theo had left three months ago and that had triggered the search parties. Voldemort couldn't have some of his best recruits running off and spilling secrets.

"Yes, but my Lord I want you to know that I never suggested, I would never try to-" Lucius began to apologize again and but Lord Voldemort stopped him again.

"I know Lucius, I don't doubt your loyalty. He's a smart lad and we could use him, so I'm not ready to succumb him to torture and death. Yet."

"Thank you my Lord, really," said Lucius, half out of fear and half for his wife's sake. It seemed their son was the only think she cared about anymore.

"And Narcissa? How is she holding up, with his absence and all?" the Dark Lord asked, almost gently, as if he could read Lucius's thoughts.

Lucius had to try not to sneer. "Uh, she's- she misses him of course, he's our only son. But she knows it was wrong for him to have ran. She appreciates there are so many proud members out looking," Lucius explained, hoping it was a sufficient answer. He bowed his head to show his own concern even though he felt nothing. Draco could rot in the ground for all he care, some son.

"Well, she's fairly strong herself, I'm sure she'll survive," Voldemort was nonchalant as he cleared his throat. He was ready to change the subject. He looked up, his red eyes serious. "Lucius, how is the rebuild coming along? I need to know that we can open that school up. The quicker we can make it appear that this new ministry reform is good and well, the more we can do to change the wizarding world."

"Oh, yes my Lord. The repair work, well it has been going fairly smoothly," Lucius began, happy to switch over to strategy instead. "The first five floors are structurally intact and almost finished. Most of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Towers are still standing, so we just need good, basic charm work to finish them up. But we've run in to a few problem areas; the moving staircases need to be looked at, they're taking far too long to change. And on the seventh floor everything looks magically scorched and we can't find a spell to remove it without vanishing parts of the floor and walls away."

Not enough had been done, but repairing a castle that was centuries full of magic was much more complicated than a few spells and new upholstery. Some things repaired easily, the school holding enough magic to fix parts of itself. But some parts it was like the school didn't want to forget what had happened to it.

Lucius looked up to see Voldemort's eyes glimmering blood red. "Well do your best. I expect nothing less and if you need more help we will acquire more experts and crew if necessary. Now remember, I want an additional dungeon made, exactly like the Slytherin one, only smaller and less exciting. That's where we can store the muggles that actually come back. I look forward to the feats we can accomplish with this school resurrected. Can you imagine Lucius, an entire horde of youth growing up like proper, pure witches and wizards?" the Dark Lord sounded excited, the anticipation rich in his plans. It sounded scary to hear such dark words in such an enthusiastic way. Lucius smiled broadly, obviously liking what he was hearing.

"Yes, we definitely will continue to work hard on it my Lord. And the idea of Hogwarts being our training grounds sounds like a dream come true," he said, thinking about how his own father used to brag about the glory days of the House of Malfoy, when they were trained only the highest forms of magic from private teachers at their own houses. It was a different time then but Lucius dreamed of living like that again. So much so he had tried to force lessons on Draco many times at home. He often hid from teachers or snuck away, much to Lucius's anger.

"Good. And that's just the start. Now run along and send Bellatrix up, I have some business matters to discuss with her," the Dark Lord said, looking incredibly mischievous. Lucius closed his eyes as he left as quickly as he could, not wanting to envision what the Dark Lord and his sister-in-law were going to discuss.

…

"Are you trying to tell me that you actually liked, no wait, you actually _enjoyed_ a conversation with Draco Malfoy?" Ginny asked incredulous. It was Tuesday night and the girls had spent almost all night in the library studying.

They had Hermione's favorite spot in the library all to themselves; luckily, Malfoy had decided not to venture to that wing of the library since Hermione's encounter with him. It was now almost one in the morning and the girls sat in the quiet of the library, distracted. "Well, I'm not saying it was the greatest conversation I've ever had, but it wasn't boring," Hermione stated. "He has some level of intelligence to be in Sterns' class to begin with and he likes to read. That's a big deal for me in terms of attraction."

Ginny laughed. "I don't think I ever saw him read for fun at Hogwarts, sorry to say. With Quidditch practice and death eater training he didn't look like he had much time for reading."

"Sh, Ginny, someone might hear you!" Luna hushed, but Ginny waved a lazy hand.

"I already cast both a Muffliato and a Protego before we started. No one's coming to bother us," she chuckled. Hermione gaped at her. When?! She hadn't seen her do anything!

"What… what kind of spells are those?" Hermione said quietly. "And uh, Quidditch?" She raised her eyebrows in disbelief at the strange word on her lips. Luna sighed.

"Silencing spell and a Shield charm," Ginny smiled, speaking softer. "And Quidditch is the most amazing sport there is! It's played on brooms, you see, and there's the keeper, the beaters, the chaser, and the seeker, that's my favorite position. Basically, we fly around this pitch with gold hoops-"

Luna cut her off. "You can explain the rules to her later Gin, but I actually knew he was an avid reader, I spent a lot of time in the library at Hogwarts doing research for my dad's magazine. I spotted Draco once or twice in really obscure sections, but I don't think he ever noticed I was there. I like to read laying upside-down you see."

Hermione looked confused by this last piece of information, but she decided to disregard it. She was more compelled to hear about Malfoy. Since Sunday night, finding out all about magic and the like, she hadn't really considered his involvement in all this. He had done a spell that morning right in front of her very eyes and that changed everything.

Ginny and Luna had immediately told her of his hatred for her kind. They warned her to stay away from him, at least not intentionally engage him, for her own safety and so they wouldn't be found out. Who knew if Malfoy would be the type to capture Ginny and Luna for the death eaters if he discovered they were here, they said.

Hermione had a harder time than she would have liked, believing that Malfoy would actually turn them in. Maybe it was because she couldn't suppress just how comfortable and safe she had been with him on Saturday. The conflicted thoughts bounced through her head all week.

She thought about all their interactions, now noticing how she saw his two-sided personality even at the start. The first time they met he was nothing but arrogant and rude. He liked to manipulate her, but Hermione saw through the backwards compliments and snide remarks. He hadn't been ready for her to spit ones back at him, to challenge him. Maybe that made a difference; most people their age didn't stand up to him. Most women didn't stand up to him.

"So he can read, or at least likes to frequent obscure library sections only weirdos like. Big deal," Ginny said. Luna narrowed her eyes. "What else did you talk about with him? I can't believe he actually can hold whole conversations, honestly on the field all I heard was all about his dad's ability to buy pretty much anything. He was annoying as hell."

Hermione felt guilty about enjoying someone's company who clearly hadn't been kind to Ginny. He looked away as she spoke. "Well, we didn't talk that much but he mentioned Paris, he likes traveling and I've been there several times. My parents own a flat for the summertime. I know we were both wicked drunk and we barely know each other yes, but it was… nice. I don't know," she said. "Isn't that why we hook up with random guys? To hear nice things and feel wanted for a bit?"

"Figures he travels, they're so loaded it's not funny," Ginny said, a scowl marring her face. "And yes that's why you hook up with random guys. I had a few like that back at Hogwarts but none of them actually amused me quite like Harry. So was he good?"

"What?" Hermione gasped, wondering if she heard correctly.

Ginny snickered. "He might be a right git but I can't lie that's he's fairly attractive. Don't ever tell Harry that," she said.

Luna rolled her eyes but gave a sincere, if not apologetic smile to Hermione. "I guess there is a lot about him we don't know," she offered instead. "but we should remember that he's got to be in hiding too. He was reported missing back in June and they weren't too happy he left. They're out looking for him as we speak. They posted his picture in the paper. It didn't say why or how he'd gone though."

"That's quite the effort made on his behalf," Hermione remarked, unsure of how to take this information. "Getting it in the paper and sending search parties…"

"Yes it is, but by no means does that mean his family isn't possibly suffering his consequences," said Luna gravely. "Voldemort wants him found because Draco probably knows a lot more than he realizes."

"Says something, does it?" Hermione thought aloud then. "That he left, I mean."

"And why's that? It proves he's chicken shit?" asked Ginny. "He's running away."

"No. It proves that some part of him, however small, wanted to get out. Whether that was because it was getting dangerous or because he's starting to see that it's wrong or because he changed his mind I don't know," replied Hermione, her words sinking into the air heavily. She couldn't help see that Malfoy just might have more to his character than he let on.

Blinded by her own prejudice against a school rival, Ginny had a hard time seeing Malfoy as anything but foul. Yet Hermione made an excellent argument and Ginny couldn't find anything to respond with. "Whatever, he's still a prat," said Ginny, turning back to her paper. Hermione looked to Luna. She eyed Hermione, apologetically again.

"I've never looked at it that way before," said Luna softly. "It's just… I think we just have so much bad history with him Hermione. You have to understand. The things we've heard and seen from him in the past make it incredibly hard to accept he could actually come to his senses."

"I know," Hermione said. "But he's still human, he still has choices. What am I supposed to do if I see him again? I feel like he's going to try to talk to me, I mean I did literally ditch him..."

Luna looked like she was thinking hard. Her thin lips were a line of concentration. She looked nervous before she finally spoke. "I'm not sure. Part of me wants you to stay away, he still has potential to be trouble. He's a fairly skilled wizard Hermione, knows more dark magic than you could dream of. I don't want to see anything bad happen, but I do trust your judgement. The other part of me knows you aren't going to let this go are you?"

Hermione looked away from her friend. "There's just, there's something about him…" Hermione didn't know how to say how she was feeling. She was confused herself.

"Just please be careful Hermione. If he tries to talk to you, just don't let him go to your head. You know his ability to manipulate. Anyway, I need to finish this tonight, sorry," Luna turned back to the pages in front of her.

She was sorting through what looked like at least three scientific journals of articles on elephants. She pulled them closer and began scanning the page for what she needed. "Yeah, of course," Hermione mumbled, turning back to the papers scattered in front of her too.

A few minutes of reading the same sentence five times, she couldn't focus. She was too interested in Malfoy's choices and his past. It was curious that a boy so manipulated to thinking he was on top of the world was now hiding from it. What had caused him to leave? Fear? With his confidence she found that hard to believe, but maybe he had seen some things that were even too much for him. Maybe some things started to fray his belief in blood purity.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate/co-harry potter fanatic/literally one of my best friends is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

 **Thanks for more positive reviews, you guys make my day when they pop up on my email :)**

 **with more nightmares and shitty news from the wizarding world, hope this chapter doesn't disappoint ;)**

"Is Draco gone again?" Blaise called from the hallway when he came downstairs on Thursday morning. Theo was sitting at the table eating breakfast and reading a copy of some math book, looking confused.

The last time they'd spoke with him was Sunday night, where they confronted him and he'd punched Blaise. The welt had shrank and was almost gone, but you could still see the purplish color on his nose.

With the start of midterms, Theo and Blaise had become distracted. Even though they didn't need to actually go to school, it was a way to ensure their hiding place stayed hidden. They needed to blend in.

And it seemed keeping busy like they would if they had been back at a year in Hogwarts was the best way to stay sane. That was besides the fact that Blaise and Theo actually liked some of their classes and wanted to do well in them.

But they weren't sure if the same held for Draco. The structure was good for him, since Draco was the type to go crazy if he was cooped up all day hiding away from the world. Yet he always talked about how he was just going to bewitch the teachers for the grades, so when he was gone from the house most days it made Blaise wonder where he'd gone off to. He couldn't possibly be studying. Blaise stared out the window, wondering if he'd ever come back.

"Didn't come home last night, I don't think I saw him pass my door and I was up late," Theo stated, gesturing to the book he didn't take his eyes off of.

"I imagined he'd be stubborn but not this stubborn," Blaise turned away from the window and looked in the fridge. He was planning to leave shortly for the library to study himself. Maybe he'd find Draco there, it was a frequent escape of Draco's plenty of times at Hogwarts. "What does he think he can just avoid us the rest of our lives?"

"I think that's precisely what he thinks he can do," Theo agreed. "But we can't convince the chap to just accept eternal damnation from his family, you know that's how he sees it. They've trained him to believe it that way, unfortunately. It's going to take some time for him to come to terms. He slept with a potential muggle-born and now his best friend is telling him off for finally doing the right thing? That's not okay mate. We don't want to push him away. He's probably going crazy, Merlin knows I went off on my dad when I realized things were fucked." Theo rubbed his own knuckle.

Blaise sighed. "Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have provoked him. He was being a prat though, I didn't deserve to get punched in the face. Magic so close to us isn't a good sign, I'm just worried he's going to get us all caught."

"Yeah well, I don't think he's that stupid. He wouldn't do that to us and we can't hide forever either. Maybe finding more magic will prove to be beneficial for us. Maybe she's as lost as us as to what's going on in our world," Theo suggested.

"That's actually possible I guess," said Blaise, thinking about her intelligence. She definitely could be a resource in their attempt to get information on the goings on in the wizarding world.

Yet he thought of Draco too, who was just as clever. They would need him at the rate they were going with getting anything done. He was the best at devising plans or strategies. Blaise sighed again.

"He's not in a great place Theo. He was definitely different Saturday night. Whether that was because he believed she was a witch or because he drank so much, we might never know."

"Well he was set on pissing you off when he saw you with her. We were at the top of the stairs, could see the whole party; when he saw you talking to her he couldn't hide the jealousy if he tried," Theo remembered. "Maybe he's actually fallen for her. You said yourself they'd be decent for each other. Would explain all this craziness."

Blaise grew sullen. "I mean, I obviously wouldn't blame him. She's great, but he's in a bad place as it is, he doesn't need to add a significant other as well. You see their anger and they fight more than they play nice. I don't mean to be such a hard ass, but let's face it her life is on the line the minute she takes up more than a friendship with him, or us for that matter!"

It was Theo's turn to tense. "I didn't think about that. He probably hasn't really thought of the consequences. You really think this war is going to take off?"

"I'm afraid we've been missing out too much," Blaise said darkly. "Things are changing and the muggle world, well they're noticing too, in a way. Did you see this headline yesterday?" Blaise walked back over to his bag on the table. He pulled out a thin, folded newspaper and handed it across the table.

It was a muggle paper, from the newsstand by the café. Theo recognized the picture on the front of a train crash that he hadn't thought much of when he'd waited in line yesterday.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Theo questioned, confusion marking his features.

Blaise sighed. "Read the article."

10 Killed in Train Operation Malfunction.

 _Frankfurt, Germany-_ Tourists on their way to a play in Munich were killed Saturday, when several train cars mysteriously derailed crashing into a nearby river channel. Authorities say the malfunction did not occur because of faulty train cars or deterioration of the rails.

Upon further inspection by the rail company, the train was in full working order, having completed a vigorous safety check only days before. The rail line, which has been in operation for half a century, has the fewest reported incidents in train malfunction for the past twelve years.

Officials are still investigating. The cars left the track but there is no evidence of damage to the tracks; there are no broken rails either. The nearest track splitter is several miles down the line and the train was at its slowest speed near the river. The only known suspect was sighted by Officer Ernst Stull, Captain of the Danube River Police Patrol.

Officer Stull gave us this comment: "Bout five cars were completely submerged, including the engine. Don't make sense, the way the iron's untouched. We do underwater rescues so we suited up, you know, hoping to save any survivors. But before we enter the water we spotted a man on the bank, just standing there laughing. Says were wasting our time, he does. I looked him over, he was all crazy eyed and wearing a black kind of cape. Strange fellow, just laughing there. And then he was gone, vanished into thin air. Like some kind of trick."

Police are still searching for the remaining three that were said to be aboard the train. Names and arrangements for the deceased have been given in our obituary section. Any information concerning the incident or lone suspect, contact the Munich Police Department at (777)-323-7331. His description and an artist's sketch are on page 9.

Theo blinked slowly, unsure of what to make of the strange article. Trains coming off tracks without moving the rails? A man vanishing into thin air? It sounded a little too fishy to just be some random happenstance. It sounded magical.

When he looked to Blaise for more, Blaise handed him page 9. A rough sketch of a dark haired man stared back at Theo. If he squinted, it looked just like Greg Goyle.

…

Their week off was flying by so fast, they hardly remembered taking time to eat and sleep. Hermione had spent most days in the library from sunrise to sunset. The empty coffee cups were starting to form a pile.

As much as she had been thrilled about magic and wanting to know every detail down to the last rat tail, she was delayed by the week of midterms. Hermione couldn't slack off, she had two twenty page papers plus she was grading several essays turned in early for Sterns' class. The due date wasn't until Thursday but three people had already submitted them.

On top of that, she had been struggling to get Ginny to study for longer than an hour at a time. She had even taken the time to make Ginny plenty of study materials to review with but to no avail. The girl was just not interested in the American Civil War or anything to do with syntax.

So far this week, she had not seen Malfoy, Blaise, or even their other friend, whose name she still didn't know, and she was more than thankful. She had thought of Malfoy, when too much studying caused her mind to wander to more dangerous territory.

She kept finding herself coming back to his guarded personality. It confused her to no end and she still didn't know if they'd be cordial when they saw each other again or what. It was frustrating not knowing if he truly was evil or if it was all a show for something much misunderstood.

On Wednesday night, Hermione heard the clock on the first floor of the library chime two. She was doing her eighth revision of her Shakespeare essay, the remnants of a cup of coffee sat in front of her and her papers spread out on the table. A burgundy colored blanket lay across her lap, keeping out the chill.

She sighed, the sound forcing her to realize the time. Starting to pack up, Hermione looked around the empty rows beyond her table. No one seemed to be here but her.

When she got all her things packed away, she shouldered her bag and began to walk slowly to the door. She was happy it was so late; everything was quiet and she was surrounded by the comfort of rows of pages of knowledge and stories. As she passed the last aisle of books, the silence was suddenly broken.

The sound made Hermione jump and when she looked down to the end of the aisle she froze. Someone lay, their head in their arms. A notebook was open and a few small books littered the tabletop. They snarled again.

She craned her neck, immediately recognizing the mess of white blonde hair. She sucked in air. _Malfoy._ She should have known. The noise he made was reminiscent of Sunday morning and fear crept up her arms.

 _What if he wakes up? What if he sees me here?_ She considered running. She looked at his pale skin and his wrinkled forehead and she watched him twitch. He looked deeply troubled as he lay there sleeping. And Hermione found herself frowning.

Suddenly he spoke, a frightening sound that started almost as a growl. Panic settled into her stomach as she stood still, not moving.

 _"Why do you insist that I took this because I wanted it?"_

 _"Just fucking stop-"_

 _"Just fucking stop it, I'm not like them. I'm not."_

She listened as he became more distressed. He looked miserable, like someone was causing him physical pain. His jaw was tightened in the most uncomfortable way and he looked seriously ill. Hermione tensed, unsure if she should get closer or run away. She remembered Luna's warnings about him but she couldn't look away. She couldn't leave.

 _What had he been forced into? And why did he seem so scared? Was this a memory or something else entirely?_ She thought. Despite Ginny and Luna being wary, he looked helpless right now. Was he so guarded because he was ashamed of things he did? Was he forced into all the bad things he'd done his whole life? Her thoughts ricocheted in her mind and she watched his lip quivering.

" _I am branded for Merlin's fucking sake. I didn't want this."_

The words made her hair stand on end. His voice was shrill and harsh and she felt the blood in her face drain. But then his emotions seemed to break, his face becoming slack. Worry settled into his features and Hermione tried to relax. She felt horrible. _What could possibly be going through his mind right now? Was he seriously_ _ **branded?**_

A frown came across his lips and something about seeing him this vulnerable made her stop all her wild thoughts. While everyone was so quick to see his vicious side, they missed the part of him that actually could feel. She wondered if she were the only one to notice.

Before she realized what she was doing, she was pulling her blanket from her backpack. She draped it over his practically shaking shoulders without him noticing and stepped on the cover of a book on the floor. She stooped to pick it up, but the minute it was in her hands Malfoy sighed heavily and her eyes darted to his; she found them still shut.

Relief flooded through her and he moved slightly, like he was finally relaxing at least a little bit. She waited a minute, just watching him. But suddenly she felt nervous; it was like she was out of place, a child caught playing in a room off limits. She really didn't need him to wake up to her just standing there staring like a fool.

She turned and ran silently to the stairs, not daring to look back. The book was still in her hand as she headed out the door into the freezing night. His words swam through her thoughts, biting at her mind just like the air.

…

Early morning light came through the window by the table Draco still slept at in the library. He sat up abruptly, feeling a chill seep in through the panes. He shivered as he felt something soft slide down his arm. A burgundy blanket was clinging to him desperately, half of it now sprawled out on the floor. He wondered where it came from.

His hair was a mess of white and he still looked exhausted. _Another stupid night wasted with nightmares,_ he sighed heavily before looking at the notebook in front of him. Blaise had given him one after he turned in his first paper on parchment, afraid that it would give them away. He had brought it with him, in case anything came to mind while he hid away from his friends.

The page was scribbled with some very vague notes in his hand about some novella called, _The Great Gatsby._ On the opposite page, there was a list of enchanted objects: vanishing cabinet, twin mirrors, transfiguration of information within objects. All but the last had been crossed out.

He rubbed his eyes, not remembering exactly which of these things he had been working on so late when he fell asleep. It had been three days since he'd seen or spoken to Blaise and Theo. He hated how guilty he felt around them and how much he cared what they thought. Especially since he'd actually hit Blaise; he felt awful for that.

So he had stuck to the library, even though that could mean he could run into Granger. He had yet to see her and he still wasn't sure how he felt. He couldn't stop himself from analyzing everything and he wasn't sure he wouldn't go off on her the minute he saw her.

He rubbed his eyes again and realized how dark and empty the library was. Despite the fact it was morning, the sunlight had yet to seep into the depths of the shelves. Everything was still. He had always loved the ability to feel drowned in the silence of books. He pulled the blanket back up around him, it was incredibly warm.

When he finally got up, he felt his own grogginess. He had a desperate need for coffee and for his mind to settle from all the nightmares. He was getting pretty tired of them and Occulmency was not his friend at the moment. He hoped he hadn't been too loud or restless in his sleep, fighting nightmares about dark wizards and bad magic in public was dangerous. He wondered who left the blanket and what state they'd found him in.

Stepping out the library doors, Draco didn't care that he looked like shit. He had spent so much time in his own head over the last few days he wasn't sure he had enough energy left in him to care about appearances. The wind crashed through the trees on campus as he walked. The gray skies looked vicious despite the rays of sun breaking through.

He got in line for coffee, oblivious to the muggles in front of him. They were chatting over some unfair grade and Draco looked annoyed to no end at having to wait. Someone behind him gave a chuckle at his unintentionally aggressive glare and they tried to stifle it, but Draco heard. When he turned, his eyes narrowed.

Theo stood behind him, his bag on his shoulder and his arms crossed. He was eying the blanket and Draco's mussed hair. "You look like shit."

Draco's gray eyes got stormy, much like the sky. "Oh shut it. I just woke up."

"Where have you been? It's not wise avoiding us, we're still friends after all," Theo said in a low voice. Draco looked stern.

"I was in the library doing work thank you very much," he said. "I haven't had time for leisure." The muggles left quickly and Draco approached the counter, ordering two large cups. When he finally got his hands around it, he turned to walk away. He looked as if he were hungover, hovering over the steam. Theo took the other before running to catch up.

"You don't really do work, you read. So have you found anything useful or are you fine with your own nightmares as stories?" Theo stated, looking at the purple bags clinging to his friend's face. The steam rolled round them. Draco looked sick.

"I'm fine. Now run along, I've got work to do," he said, trying to distract himself. He sipped his coffee, almost burning his lips but he didn't care. His mind was elsewhere, to the dreams of getting the dark mark and having the Cruciatius curse used on him and impossible requests from his Aunt.

As he started to walk faster, Theo made it a point to keep up. "How many nights have you slept in the library?" he asked casually.

Draco sighed indignantly. "Only two. What's it to you?"

The wind continued to whip at their faces. "Hoping to catch sight of her?" The question was bold for Theo to have placed, but he knew it was what Draco needed; a reminder of everything he was trying to avoid. "Or have you already caught her and are now taking souvenirs?" Theo stated, pointing to the blanket.

"Watch it Theo," said Draco threw gritted teeth.

"Why? Because it's true? Or because you wish it were? Please explain, I'm all ears," Theo's sarcasm was bitter. He hoped his aggressiveness towards his friend would loosen him up and he'd talk for once; all Draco needed was to get everything off his chest. Just talking about it would be good for him.

"No it's not true. I don't know where I got this thing," Draco stated, pulling it off his shoulders. He was going to avoid talking about Granger if it was the least he could do. Within a minute or two the chill of November got to him and Draco had no choice but to place the blanket back around himself. Theo smirked.

"You don't mind that someone gave it to you though and that someone was most definitely a muggle," he mentioned. Draco looked miserable. "Better her than some random one, huh?"

"Just fucking drop it!" Draco practically yelled.

"What? You going to curse me now that you got your wand back? Hit me like you did Blaise? You don't have it in you and you won't do it again, you even look terribly sorry right now when I mention it," Theo said. "Look, I'm only here as a friend and you know that. You've got to figure out your next move and make it fast. You're going to end up seeing her again and you need to not explode in her face or break our cover."

Draco kept his mouth shut for the time being, afraid he'd yell again. _Why am I getting so mad? Theo's just looking out for me… I should be grateful._

He considered Theo's advice about having to talk to her again. He didn't know what he'd say. He still had no idea if she really was muggle-born or where she got a Ravenclaw uniform or if it really mattered he slept with her at all. His mind felt raw with all the questions; maybe that accounted for all the bad dreams lately.

"We need to know who she's for, what she knows," Theo explained. "We can't just have another witch running around this close you know. It would be wiser to approach her with ease and curiosity than hostility. Especially if she recognizes us as, well who we are…"

"And you want _me_ to approach her, why?" Draco wanted to know. "She likes Blaise well enough," he said, but his words held little confidence.

"You know why. It was your hands feeling her up on the desk on Saturday night and it was your bed she slept in. I haven't seen you so agile since being at Pansy's birthday party with the Beauxbattons girls summer after fourth year," mentioned Theo.

"You haven't combusted or gotten ill and your dick hasn't fallen off. You're fine, it's in the past you can't change it. Even if she is a muggle-born, it's time for you to start considering there are more important things than who you sleep with," Theo said, and he pulled the newspaper Blaise had let him keep from his bag.

When he handed it to Draco, he just seemed confused. Theo looked sullen and nodded for him to read it. As they continued to walk towards the library, Draco skimmed it growing more anxious as he got to the bottom. When he finished, he handed it back to Theo, who opened up to page 9 and handed it back. There was Goyle's face, looking back at them. Draco halted.

"You're kidding," he sighed unhappily. "They've got him under their wing already. Fuck." Draco threw the paper rather aggressively into the nearest trash.

"Yeah, very unfortunate. We need to start really considering what we're doing here, if we can try to help somehow. I know you aren't exactly ready for that, but do you really want to see this happen to more of our friends? For them to become murderers?" asked Theo sadly.

"No I, I don't…" Draco mumbled quietly. "I was pushed far enough down that path to know how bad it is. I don't wish that on anyone."

Theo knew Draco was being honest and in his more defeated mood he'd hopefully convince him to reconsider talking to her again. "She's a start, mate. Being magical here of all places where we picked to hide, it needs investigation. She's just a girl, one that was interested in you. You should find it easy to get some extra facts from her. We need something, anything. She might have more information from the wizarding world."

Draco grumbled miserably. He had been waiting for Blaise and Theo to cook something up like this. He had yet to talk to them about it all and it was only a matter of time. He still couldn't get her off his mind and he didn't need their extra lecturing over the need to just accept the facts.

"I don't know," Draco admitted, still not happy, as they finally got up the library steps and inside the doors. It took them a second to adjust to the different temperatures and Theo shivered. They headed up the stairs for a table.

"What do you mean, extra facts? Is this Blaise's idea because honestly it sucks. It's not even well strategized," asked Draco over his shoulder. "I mean what am I supposed to do, waltz up and just ask her about her magical schooling and if she gets the Prophet in the middle of the quad?"

Theo laughed at Draco's sarcasm. "Well obviously not. That's crass. So we didn't think that far into it, but how hard could it be to get her to open up especially behind closed doors? Plus it would do wonders for your ego. Not like having you in a good mood would be a bad thing," Theo suggested. Draco looked more than irritated.

 _What would I say to her?_ He thought curiously, almost nervously. _It's true, I don't feel any different, nothing has changed. I'm still standing,_ he told himself. _And she's just a girl. Just a girl._ He tried repeating the words and they didn't feel awful in his mouth like so many evil spells he'd said before.

She confused him. There was something about her because she was fierce and logical. It didn't really feel like it was for any reason relating to her blood. He found himself still wondering why she had left before he woke up and why he had wanted her to stay. Maybe he liked that she had nothing to do with the dark arts or his past.

He was going to have to talk to her again. She was obviously magical and their own safety was being called into question; that was reason enough. They at least needed to find out where she came from and he was their best option. He pushed the idea out of his head that he actually wanted to talk to her.

"You're really not going to tell me where you got that blanket?" Theo asked, after a minute of silence. Draco led them to a table on the upper level that was too small for two people. It was next to a heater but it did nothing to warm Draco up. He sighed heavily to show his annoyance when Theo sat down and took out his math book. He had hoped he'd find his own place to sit.

Draco walked around to the banister and looked out to more people starting to fill in tables and chairs. He couldn't believe that article was in a muggle paper. _Why had Goyle attacked that train? Was someone on it that the death eaters wanted?_ He wondered. It was possible and if so they most likely kidnapped them. It was more than worrisome that their close friend held so much dark power already. He was rather stupid Draco remembered, but he used to be above a lot of the really bad stuff his father ranted about every time they went to his house on holiday. His dad was off his rocker for the Dark Lord.

Draco pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders; it was actually quite comforting to his troubled thoughts. He didn't know many people kind enough to go out of their way like that anymore. In fact, he wasn't sure he could think of any.

"I honestly don't know where it came from, I woke up with it is the truth. I suppose someone was trying to be nice, they probably were on their way home from studying and stumbled across me," Draco tried to joke as he stretched but his voice held no humor in it. He was too shook up over the newspaper article. Having slept slumped over a table, his back felt crooked and stiff. That and all the stress of this whole week was really pulling him thin; his body ached.

The large clock below them began to chime, a loud and ominous sound through the small mess of minds that were scattered around the tables and rows. On the ninth and final chime Draco turned around to face Theo, about to speak, when he caught sight of someone else.

Slouched in an armchair several rows behind Theo was a girl, wrapped in a burgundy blanket. It was the exact color of the one still hanging around Draco's shoulders and he glanced skeptically several times between the two. Her brown curls were swept around her face and a coffee cup from the café was ready to spill from her hand because she appeared to be asleep. A book was open in Granger's lap.

…

Getting home at three in the morning after running away from Malfoy had left Hermione confused and nervous and anything but tired. She lay in bed thinking about him, forgetting her Shakespeare essay completely.

Logic seemed to lose her when she thought of his nightmares and how she only had half of the answers. She needed to ask Ginny and Luna about the whole branding thing and if it meant anything to them. Maybe it was something to do with his family or that vile death gang he was a part of.

She wondered if he'd ever liked being a part of the group since Luna had mentioned he was in hiding and must have run away. If his family had such strong beliefs stemming back for ages it was no wonder he grew up brainwashed to believe such horrid things.

He probably knew nothing different until he went to school and was able to think and learn for himself for once. _That must have been so crazy, to be taught one way growing up and then realize how much is actually out there years later,_ she thought sadly. That explained his volatile personality at least; he didn't know how to react to all the lies.

Her mind tumbled back to thoughts of walking home with him on Saturday. Of how he had talked of Paris with a look of longing and how he couldn't resist bragging about all the places he'd been. At least there had been some good in his life. It was nice seeing him actually show positive emotion or interest in anything he talked about; he usually appeared indifferent. He even listened to a few of her own stories without interrupting or scowling or anything. It was strangely comforting to see he could be civil again.

 _Why am I the only one he's comfortable with?_ She thought. _Well, maybe not comfortable, but… not ready to bludgeon my skull into the ground. That has to mean something, right?_ She reasoned, wondering if her logic made sense with the lateness of the hour. She turned over again and stared at the full moon peeking through a gap in the curtain.

It glowed bright white and she sighed, finally feeling sleepy. _But does he know my heritage? Does he truly know I'm not of magical blood?_ She thought. Because that would surely be difficult for him to handle, especially if he hadn't come to terms with all his old traditions yet.

Hermione figured he hadn't; Ginny and Luna had been insistent that he probably couldn't. She didn't believe that though. Everyone had a chance at redemption, at least she still believed that.

Maybe something could be done about him, she reasoned. A chance at least, she felt like he deserved that much. Images of him floated to her conscious as she drifted off, his hair, his sneer, and all his scars.

…

Hermione slept restlessly for the few hours she did manage to sleep. Tossing and turning with the worried and angry features of Malfoy in the library never leaving her head, it was a miracle she slept at all. At six in the morning she was staring at the ceiling, the small crack in her curtains letting in bright sun.

 _So much for trying to catch up on sleep today,_ she told herself angrily. She had planned to sleep in as much as possible and then finish up anything she needed that afternoon, but it wasn't looking promising. She couldn't calm down enough for sleep and instead threw back her covers. _Maybe I can catch a nap later…_

After taking a long, hot shower and grabbing breakfast she was out the door and heading for the library by seven. It was one of the only places she felt safe when her mind and emotions were at their breaking point; she figured it was the only place she might be able to find peace.

Cold winds reminiscent of winter scraped across the paths on campus and Hermione found herself clinging to her coat. She didn't like the cold; it was unusual for this time of the year and that only made her grumpier. She stopped to get coffee before quickly hurrying to the library, if only to get out of the wind.

Just inside the grand doors was the large clock, its bronze roman numerals hanging on the wall. A bronze raven stood atop the seven, like it were sitting in a tree. The hour hand was pointing just below it. Hermione looked around at the vast, open, quiet rows of books and tables on the first floor. There were a few tables occupied by nervous students, busy trying to finish last minute details on reports or cram before their test.

Not really wanting to do work, Hermione headed for one of the comfy armchairs tucked away on the second floor. They were at the end of each row of books and would be the perfect place to feel surrounded yet alone.

She grabbed her copy of sonnets and her blanket out of her bag when she approached a worthy chair and sat, smiling. It was the first time in a while she felt her nerves ease. Opening the book she began to read, getting lost in the beauty of the rhythm of the words. It was calming to concentrate on poetry rather than her own life for the time being. In ten pages time she was fast asleep, the book resting in her lap and her coffee nearly spilling out of her hand.

…

Theo turned over his shoulder to see what Draco was gaping at and gave a hoot when he saw the sight. "Well, isn't that just damn coincidental? I couldn't have planned that if I tried!"

"Shut it," Draco seethed, his jaw tight. _Are you fucking kidding me?! There's no way._

"Are you really that surprised though?" Theo said, seeing Draco's uncertainty. "The way you and Blaise talked about her intelligence I figured you already knew she spends more time in here than you. Or anyone for that matter. I've seen her every time I've come in, always headed for that second floor stair in the back you know, the one we pass on the way to our library. Or by the librarian's desk. Except obviously today she's right there."

"Yeah, I can see that perfectly well thanks," Draco said, his voice low. He was at a loss of what to do; there she slept, peaceful and undisturbed, yet the whole situation with the blanket was like a slap in the face. Why had she done it? She was the one that left in the morning and yet here she was being nice to him? It didn't make any sense in his mind and it certainly didn't help his intrigue in her.

His anger seemed to rise. He wanted to go up to her, wake her up, ask her what the hell she was doing to him. Before he knew it he was walking over to her, Theo watching on in interest.

"Sleeping in an armchair, was my bed seriously that uncomfortable?" Draco drawled loudly as he approached. He stood a few feet away as he watched Granger's eyes flutter open. She blinked up at the abruptness of his statement.

When she lifted her head, her hair fell in her face and she stretched, shaking it out of her eyes. Sitting up, she looked at Malfoy standing in front of her, his guard clearly raised. "Okay, I cannot lie, your bed was ridiculously comfortable. I shouldn't expect anything less from you though. And I left because it was the company I was not keen on," she said truthfully.

"What? Now that's ridiculous I'm great company," Draco said, immediately offended. He couldn't stop himself.

"I mean, I guess occasionally?" Hermione began. "You really should see a doctor or therapist about those nightmares. It's not healthy," she said quickly, trying to make it seem like it was no big deal she cared. She hoped he wouldn't think too much of it. She was just going to be honest; what had she got to lose? His arrival here had caught her completely off guard and she was curious what he would say to her.

"What the hell? I didn't ask your opinion," Draco said fiercely, realizing she must have seen him having another nightmare in the library last night. That was why she left the blanket.

"Then what do you want?" she asked, tilting her head to massage a sore spot in her neck. Draco tensed, watching her hand.

"To ask you to stop snoring, it's disrupting my studies," he sidetracked.

"Ha! _You_ studying?" she snorted. "I find that highly unlikely since I've had firsthand experience with your writing. Plus, I've never snored in my life." Draco's fists clenched but he let them go, trying to relax. Theo had told him not to blow up at her. He had to try.

"Please, you also know that Sterns loves my work so might as well work hard this time. You know, to make sure he knows just how much better I am than even his own teaching assistant," Draco smirked viciously.

Hermione's features tightened sharply at his words. "It's due by noon. Hope you aren't trying to finish up last minute. Sterns will know if it's sloppy and rushed."

"I didn't seem to need much time to write the last one. It was only three sentences remember," Draco laughed and Hermione looked utterly annoyed.

She stood, snatching up her bag and shoving the blanket and book back inside. She shouldered it and walked right up to him. Draco raised his eyebrows in curiosity, practically begging her to try something. He didn't seem to mind how close she had gotten.

"Well then get to work. It's a whole letter grade off if it's late and I count every minute," she stated in a low voice, before turning on her heel and heading straight for the stairs.

Draco stood, unsure of what just happened. As he watched her go, a small smile came to his mouth. Her hair whipped behind her. He walked over to the balcony rail again and leaned on it, seeing her headed for the exit. "Thanks for the blanket by the way. Couldn't stop yourself, could you?" he called, laughing.

Hermione's face felt suddenly hot and she wanted to turn around. She wanted to yell in his face for calling her out but she didn't want to give him that satisfaction. _He'll have to come turn in his paper, so I'll have my chance,_ she huffed to herself in determination. She continued out the door, not looking back.

…

"That was unbelievably civil," Theo stated when Draco had walked back over, slightly stunned, and sat down at their table. His mind raced.

"Yeah, it was," Draco said, his voice calm.

"I don't know how that's going to help you get to the bottom of all this her being magical shit but I trust you know what you're doing," Theo chuckled as he studied Draco's silent features. "What? What are you thinking?"

Draco was quiet for a little longer, trying to decide what to say. "But she could still be a muggle-born… why was it so easy to talk to her like that? It's always been easy, except for the times I've made her really mad. I don't get it, when I was at Hogwarts I wouldn't give muggle-borns the time of day."

"Aw look, our little Draco is finally turning into a real man!" Theo said, bringing his hands to his heart like a proud father. He pretended to wipe a tear and Draco threw a book at him.

"Shut it," Draco said.

"You're the one that brought it up! And besides, it's like we've already said. You didn't hesitate because it doesn't fucking matter! She's a girl! A hot one. End of discussion," Theo explained, trying to make this easy.

Draco sat, mulling in his own thoughts. _She's a girl. Just a girl,_ he said the words again and again. They felt more real for once. He wouldn't admit it to Theo, but he had rather liked finally talking to her again. She had countered with cleverness and she had admitted her own concern over his dreams. That was something. It made Draco feel almost human.

"Well don't just sit here, you've got a paper to write. Only two hours until noon mate," smiled Theo, turning back to his own work. Draco narrowed his eyes at him, but it went unnoticed. He looked at his own notebook, lying unopened and sighed. He was grateful to Theo for not pushing this any further right now. He snapped a finger and Theo's pen soared out of his hand and into his own. Theo looked smug. Draco smiled, opened his notebook, and began to write.

…

Hermione rushed into her office, throwing her bag, jacket, and scarf into the corner. _Why did he wake me up like that? For practically nothing too!_ She huffed. She had spent so long this week thinking over what she would say to him but when she finally did see him it felt like he did all the talking.

This wasn't going to be easy, now that they complicated things with sleeping together. It proved they could tolerate each other, even enjoyed each other at one point. It made their encounter just now full of tension and Hermione had to admit, she sort of liked it. Something about the way he seemed almost hurt when she mentioned leaving on Saturday because of his presence made her feel powerful. Like she had some sway in him.

She sat down at her desk and put her head in her hands. She hadn't planned on falling asleep in the library. Devoting so much time to studying lately was beginning to make her truly exhausted. When she finally lifted her head, she looked at the stack of papers now sitting in the "To Be Graded" box. It was for Sterns' class and she wondered if Blaise had turned his in yet since Malfoy obviously hadn't.

Reaching for a red pen, Hermione grabbed the first paper in the stack. She sat up straighter in her chair and situated herself for a day of grading. It was a good distraction until he came to turn his in _,_ a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her. _Fuck. Maybe he won't, maybe he'll just not do it. It's not like he needs to, he's a wizard after all. Who definitely doesn't care about silly non-magic classes,_ she tried to convince herself.

She recalled his smirk and his messy hair and how he still looked sick. She wondered if the pressures of his family, friends, or this whole war thing were causing him this much stress. He seemed defensive over the mention of his dreams; was he worried she had already seen them?

Her shoulders shuddered at the thought. It wasn't going to be easy getting to know him, if that's what was going to happen. She still wasn't sure she wanted that, but Luna and Ginny knew he was in deep with the death eaters. He could have so much to tell them that could help. It was worth trying to at least make peace.

 _Hermione what are you suggesting?! You can't just ignore the whole prejudice thing still…_ she told herself. She was nervous. This was a lot to handle right now and she still had so much to deal with academically. Shaking her head, she started to read the paper in front of her, desperate for a distraction.

…

"Hermione I'm completely and utterly in trouble!" Ginny wailed, storming into Hermione's office two hours later. A pile of about ten papers now sat in the "Graded" box on Hermione's desk and she looked relaxed. She frowned, looking up from the current one she was working on.

Ginny flung herself into the chair opposite Hermione and threw her papers onto the desk. "I can't figure out this stupid history paper! The teacher put so much red on this, it's like I have to start all over!"

"Aw Gin, no! Its fine we can figure this out. Now come on, I thought you picked the Salem Witch Trials to talk about for that?" Hermione's voice was calm and sincere. She wasn't about to let Ginny fail a class, even if the girl didn't like learning muggle history.

"I did! And I gave so much good information! Like how can you tell me Wendelin the Weird wasn't a pioneer for women's empowerment?! She was burned forty seven times!" Ginny asked incredulous.

"Oh my God Ginny you didn't include that in your paper did you? You can't just put in wizarding information, that's not how we see the trials!" said Hermione concerned. She grabbed the paper and began to skim through it.

"Well no, but I did mention her. She spoke out against the unfair treatment of women in Salem at the time. She is mentioned in one book in the muggle library so like, it's legitimate," Ginny said. "The damn teacher just doesn't believe me."

"Well that's because you need to site the information properly. Here, let me help, do you have the book?" Hermione stated, having found the paragraph that was covered in red. "And you have to take out this part about Wendelin living to be 139 years old. That's not possible here in this world, that's why your professor circled it with question marks. She thinks you didn't proofread this, which is better than her thinking you're crazy."

"Okay, fine. But can you help? Please? I'm desperate and I've been writing that for the past four hours!" Ginny pleaded.

"Yes, and I'm incredibly proud of your hard work," Hermione laughed and Ginny looked suddenly relieved. Ginny fished the book from her bag and handed it over. Hermione took it, searching the index for the right section. Ginny started gathering up the rest of her notes on the subject that she had.

A few minutes passed in silence but suddenly the girls were interrupted. Hermione hadn't been paying attention to the time and when she looked at the clock it read 11:59.

A smirk played on the lips of the person who had walked right in, a paper dangling in hand. Obviously not expecting to find anyone but Hermione, he halted when he saw the telltale red hair. His smirk was replaced with a look of utter bewilderment.

"You've got to be bloody joking," the cutting words made the hairs on the back of Ginny's neck stand on end. She recognized the voice and she froze. They hadn't prepared for this.

Footsteps sounded as Malfoy walked closer. Ginny turned, seeing his gray eyes piercing her; he looked ready to fight. Hermione opened her mouth as if to speak, but she couldn't even muster a sound.

…


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate/co-harry potter fanatic/literally one of my best friends is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

 **Thanks for everyone continuing to review! It means so much!**

 **FINALLY CHAPTER 13. I want to personally apologize for how long this freaking chapter took! Basically I wrote it out while I was stressed out of my mind with many, many things you don't really care about. So basically it was like my brain threw out a lot of good without any organization. When my editor read it she was confused and we realized how choppy and all over the place it was going.**

 **THUS after massive reorganization, this chapter is now fire~**

 **enjoy a little Hogwarts reunion ;)**

Hermione blinked. Ginny gulped. Draco stood menacing, like he just found out the worst news he could imagine.

"What the fuck are you doing here Weaselette? Don't you know it's dangerous so far from home?" he said between clenched teeth. This was definitely not what he expected to find in her office. Not at all.

"I could say the same thing about you Malfoy!" Ginny's temper was quick to explode and she stood so she was right in Malfoy's way. When Ginny crossed her arms over her chest indignantly, Hermione immediately stood to stop them.

"Alright, calm down! I'm not going to have any of this in my office. Especially not when there's so many people around," Hermione stated, coming between the two. Her door was still wide open and the sounds of yelling would surely perk the interest of others in the vicinity. "For Christ's sake, put that away," she whispered to Ginny, eying the end of her wand sticking out of her sleeve. Ginny scoffed before sliding the wand away.

Draco didn't notice Ginny's wand at all, too distracted by Hermione's sudden proximity. He wanted to smile as he looked her, thinking about the difference in her appearance from Saturday night until now. Her sweater was too big and showed her collar bone, bright white. Draco smirked.

Hermione narrowed her eyes as she watched him. "This was bound to happen, it's not like you guys could avoid each other forever. Not my fault, but I was the link between you."

"Speak for yourself," Malfoy said, taking a step back. The smirk was replaced with a scowl. "I would have been perfectly happy avoiding this one altogether," he stated, pointing to Ginny.

"And why's that, you in hiding? Afraid the death eaters will get you? Or afraid the Order will imprison you instead?" Ginny's remark was scathing and she still looked incredibly angry.

Before Hermione could intervene, Draco spoke, his voice much quieter than before. "You have no fucking clue what the death eaters would do to me if they found me Weasley. You'd do best to hope they don't find me for your sake as well."

Ginny pursed her lips, looking neither satisfied nor angry with his answer. It was true, they wouldn't want the death eaters showing up anywhere near here. But her own personal hatred for the Slytherin couldn't be held back so easily and she bit her lip to stop another slew of insults.

Hermione cleared her throat, bracing herself for the worst. "Okay, so while this isn't ideal we can't just ignore you're both hiding here," Hermione stated, trying to look at this situation logically.

"Who said I was hiding?" interrupted Draco, obviously not ready to admit any bit of truth now that he saw who Granger's friends were. He had to be wary now that Weasley was here.

"Oh please," Hermione laughed, "I was told you wouldn't come here on your own and your newspapers aren't short of advertising that you're still missing."

Hermione's words caught Malfoy off guard. _**Your**_ _newspapers?_ He thought. He gaped at her, his eyebrows knitted angrily. "If you have any copies of that I'd love to see it and know how you managed to smuggle it here without getting caught. Quite the feat."

"Leave Hermione out of this," Ginny said to him. "What are you doing here anyway? Why are you thousands of miles from home? Death eater life not as fulfilling as you thought it would be?"

"I'll drag Granger right through this if I have to, you started it! Slandering my name when you don't even really know me Weasley!" said Draco, his temper rising. The death eater comment got under his skin and mixed with his anger; it felt like fire.

"I know you well enough!" Ginny yelled, trying to get in Malfoy's face. "And I've told her all about you!"

"Hey now! What the fuck, I said calm down!" Hermione said, her voice rising even louder. She got between the pair once again but Ginny looked ready to pounce.

"She started it," Malfoy cut in bitterly, even though it didn't matter.

"I don't care," Hermione fumed. "Just stop. Both of you!" she pushed both of them back with her palms, hoping to put more than just herself between them. The hostility hung in the room and clung to them.

Malfoy gave a loud sigh. Nothing was going to get fixed or explained if they didn't shut up, Granger was right. It was crazy that Weasley was here and even worse, she seemed to be friends with Granger. It was hard for him to try and relax, but he felt like he had to.

How had this happened? Had this whole thing between him and Granger been a setup? And the newspapers, how did they get a hold of them, what did they say? Had Granger helped them in that sense, with her intelligence he could obviously believe it. Fuck. This was all too much.

It was clear the youngest Weasley was still completely biased towards Slytherins, or maybe just the Malfoys. Draco wasn't sure but man was he getting sick of the double standard. Her family was just as bad, the way they hated on his for having different beliefs. _Let's ignore the fact my family's beliefs are shit... it's still prejudice right?_ He thought. His mind raced.

He moved back from Hermione's hand, not enjoying the touch at all since it was meant to push him away. The scowl wouldn't leave his lips, but he was realizing fighting them and having the temptation to duel wasn't going to be a smart move. He saw that enough in his own house and it never worked out well. He made sure his wand was tucked well away and out of his own reach in an inside pocket of his coat. _That's at least one family tradition I refuse to uphold anymore: violence._

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked bewildered when she saw the wand.

"Trying to be civil," he said, his voice strained with tension. He held both hands up afterward, to show it was completely away.

Hermione closed her eyes and shook her head. She walked over to her seat behind her desk and sat, unsure if she trusted him. It hadn't occurred to her how much tension really held between the old classmates that now stood in front of her. She figured Ginny's own dislike of Malfoy was bad, but not this bad. Now she was nervous. It was stressful enough having Malfoy back in her presence, but now with an angry Ginny things were about to get interesting.

Ginny went to stand by the windows, making it quite obvious that she wanted to be as far away from Malfoy as she could. Crossing her arms, she still looked murderous. "Civil? I didn't think that was in your vocabulary," she said under her breath.

"Ginny," Hermione warned, but Malfoy cut in.

"So where's the scar-face and your goofy brother? I always assumed they couldn't survive without you and Lovegood for help," Malfoy chided to change the subject to something of use. He didn't care that it was a blunt statement, at this point it would distract the girls away from anything about why he was in hiding. "Are they here with you?"

"Not funny. I'm not going to tell you anything about where Harry and Ron are, are you crazy? You're a death eater, we all know it! You're probably on a mission to capture us or something!" Ginny sneered.

"I'm not a death eater," said Draco quietly. His voice was barely a whisper. "And if I had been sent to kidnap you, it wouldn't have taken this long."

He felt the anger pour out of him but this time it wasn't for Ginny; it was for all the shit he'd been pulled through in his past. She immediately assumed he was a death eater because both of their families had contributed in some way to this twisted idea they both believed: the idea that the other should be hated.

Would things be different had they given friendship a chance between Gryffindors and Slytherins instead of following family tradition? Would that have made her less likely to believe he could be a death eater? That he couldn't, maybe, change?

"I'll believe it when I see it," Ginny challenged and she looked to Malfoy for a rebuttal. But he didn't give one; she answered his question. And he was the one who was blinded by prejudice go figure.

"Stop Ginny," said Hermione firmly. "We can't expect him to give us any information if we sit here insulting him every second!"

She was being honest and logical, but Hermione could tell before she was done speaking that Ginny and Draco would need a lot more persuading. Ginny looked to Draco with spite in her eyes while Draco took a seat, looking at his own fingernails like he were growing bored.

"You know I'm right," Hermione said sternly. "I've heard a lot about you and your family from Ginny," she said then to Draco. He looked up when he realized she was talking to him.

"You didn't know who I was before?" he asked, confused.

"Self-centered," Ginny coughed. Hermione gave her a look that wiped her smile away.

"Why would I? We met at the start of term remember?" Hermione said.

Ginny just laughed wickedly. "What did you think Malfoy? Everyone that's magical simply must just _know_ about your arrogant socialite family? She didn't even know this world existed until she came running to me because you decided to use a water spell in your sleep!"

Ginny couldn't stop the words from rushing out. Yet now her confidence seemed to vanish with the realization of what she had just said to Draco Malfoy of all people: Ginny had just admitted Hermione's blood status, clear as day. Draco's jaw dropped.

He looked like he heard Ginny in a completely different language. All his thoughts during this whole week culminated suddenly in her words. Granger didn't even know this world existed _. She was a muggle._ He stared practically shaking for a few seconds, suddenly unable to comprehend what was going on.

 _But I saw her do magic…_ he remembered suddenly. _Fuck, so she's a muggle-born?! Seriously? I slept with a fucking muggle-born?!_ When he looked over to her she was staring, her deep brown eyes curious and nervous at the same time. She looked desperately like she wanted to put a hand on his, like she felt bad and was attempting to comfort him. No one ever dared to look at him like that. He felt like he was going to be sick.

Draco tightened his jaw, not speaking. _But I'm still fine, right?_ The thoughts rushed through him too quickly. _I'm still the same person and she's still just a girl, that's what I told Theo anyway… fuck. I- I can't handle this._

It was all so stupid and he was so tired of it all. Unable to stop himself, he turned on his heel and ran right out the door.

…

Hermione whipped her head around to Ginny the minute Malfoy had gone.

"What the fuck Gin?!" she ripped her coat and scarf off her chair and started wrapping up as quickly as she could. "Was it really smart to piss him off again and again and then just casually mention my blood status?!"

Ginny didn't say anything and Hermione, finished with her coat, headed for the door. She sighed when she realized Ginny wasn't following her. The girl still stood in the corner, a frown on her face.

"Oh nevermind, just come on! We're going to lose him!" Hermione called, and Ginny looked reluctant as she grabbed her jacket and sighed, following Hermione right out the door.

…

Draco couldn't stop his reeling mind as he bolted down the stairs outside Granger's office. _A muggle-born, practically a real muggle! She lived her whole life like that, right?! That's what the fucking ginger had said, fuck,_ Draco ranted to himself. What was he going to do? Did it really change anything?

He rounded the corner of the offices and headed straight for the library. The only destination he could come up with was the magical library; it was a safe haven when things got rough for him and no one would bother him there. Racing towards the library he took the steps two at a time until he was at the doors.

 _Why did it matter so much though?_ He thought to himself. Why was he freaking out so much? Hadn't he just told Theo earlier he would consider talking to her again? That she was just another girl? It wasn't like her blood had anything to do with how they'd interacted Saturday, with who she was… yet betrayal to his family hung heavy in his heart.

Hermione and Ginny got down the stairs of her office and into the quad, searching for any sign of him. Hermione caught sight of white blonde hair racing up the path towards the steps and pulled Ginny along by the sleeve. When Ginny finally saw him, she picked up the pace.

 _The library,_ Hermione realized instantly; he was inside the doors before they even got close. Hermione bolted up the steps desperate to stop him, corner him. It was important that he was so freaked out, Hermione thought, and she wasn't going to let him get away so easily.

Once inside she looked up and down searching for him, the rows playing shadows that made it hard to see. She thought about his sincerity on Saturday night, while they walked home. She couldn't help thinking there had to be a part of him that could break away from all the bad. She'd seen there was a person there, behind all the walls he'd put up.

After a moment Ginny pointed; Malfoy was disappearing down the south corridor. Draco passed row after row before finding the one with the picture of the Whomping Willow. When he got to the end of the row he paused and looked back, checking if anyone was coming. It didn't look like it.

By the time Hermione and Ginny huffed around the corner he was nowhere in sight. Hermione reached the end of the row first, saw the picture and sighed, and turned shaking her head at Ginny.

"He's gone," she said her voice hard. "Could he make himself disappear?"

"Doubtful," Ginny said, coming to a halt. She looked at Hermione, trying to catch her breath. "He wouldn't risk using Apparition and I'm not even sure he ever passed his test unless he was taught outside Hogwarts. Hang on-" Ginny said suddenly, eyeing the portrait for the first time. Over Hermione's shoulder she could just make out the top branches of the Whomping Willow.

"What is it?" Hermione followed Ginny's gaze. "The portrait?"

"Yes, I- I know that tree! It's on the school grounds. Fuck this isn't just a coincidence," Ginny stated, looking at the picture.

And then she was moving it, trying to take it off the wall as if to see what was behind it. "What the hell Ginny! You can't just take that down, it's property of the library! We'll get in trouble!" Hermione whispered furiously.

"Yes but, ah ha!" Ginny said, and she stepped aside to reveal a portrait hole. "This is unreal!"

Suddenly Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out a small coin of some currency that Hermione had never seen. She checked to see if they were alone and then pulled out her wand; she tapped the coin several times and Hermione watched interestedly as the numbers on the side rearranged to those of the book shelf numbers and the word, 'library.'

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked when Ginny pocketed the coin and then her wand.

"Making sure Luna knows what we're doing," Ginny smiled. "Come on," she said, pulling Hermione forward. They disappeared into the portrait hole.

…

Draco snarled when he was prompted by the same stupid question at the trapdoor. He said his own name and "to escape," and he heard the lock unclick. He wrenched the door back furiously, sending several books flying. By the time he was inside he crashed into the armchair without a second look around the room and he put his head in his hands. Theo and Blaise both looked up from the table, more than intrigued.

"Rough day?" Blaise said with a laugh and it startled Draco. His head shot up, his eyes narrowing at the two standing over the table. They appeared to be studying a map. _Just my luck._

"I don't want to talk about it, so don't even try," he growled, warning them. He really didn't want to snap; he had already done that once. Guilt still flooded him every time he thought about how he had hit Blaise. Another shit trait enforced by his father. But that couldn't be an excuse.

…

Ginny and Hermione followed the dark hall for some time before coming up to a ladder. At the top, a small trapdoor was visible. When Ginny climbed up to it she pushed, but nothing happened.

"What the?" she said, seeing words forming on the wood: _What is your name? What is your ambition?_ Ginny turned to Hermione. "It's a riddle."

"What do you mean?" Hermione said confused.

"It's not going to let us in until we answer it, I don't know, Luna's usually good at these. In her house at Hogwarts answering a riddle is the only way into the common room and dorms!"

"Well, we can try to answer it then. How about, we are Hermione and Ginny, and our ambition is to find Draco Malfoy?" Hermione said hopeful.

"That's not exactly my ambition," Ginny said quietly, and Hermione nudged her in the gut. "Ow!" The door remained shut.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "My name is Hermione and _my_ ambition is to find Draco Malfoy." They heard the lock click and Hermione smiled.

…

Draco was losing his hold on reality fast. Thinking about family and pureblood rules once again had his stomach in knots. Seeing Granger hadn't helped, finding Weasley here didn't either! This was all crazy, them running away and now being found! It was going to be bad news and he wasn't sure he was strong enough to face any of the consequences.

"Oh come on, what's up Drake? You might as well just talk, it'd be better for you I'm sure," Blaise tried, hoping his voice was steady. He didn't want Draco running off again. He suddenly looked much worse than what Blaise had hoped he would. Now days after their initial fight, Draco looked sullen and lost. Blaise just wanted to help.

But Draco didn't have time to respond. Suddenly the trapdoor slammed open. A redhead poked her head through and was blinking around in the light of the room beyond. Her eyes locked on Blaise's and the pen from his hand dropped. His mouth fell open as he stared and Theo took a few steps back in utter shock. Ginny Weasley was staring just as wide eyed at the pair, not saying anything.

…

"Does someone want to tell us what's going on?" Blaise stated a few moments later. Tension pulled across the room, tying knots around every word. Blaise looked at the girls with suspicion. Ginny and Hermione stood nervously right near the trapdoor, ready to run. Ginny had her wand in her hand and she stood, protecting Hermione.

The last thing they all needed was a duel right here in the library, even if it was away from muggle eyes in their own magical tower. Blaise held up his empty hands to show he meant no harm but Ginny didn't lower her wand.

The split between the wizarding families over blood status had never been clearer than now. It was one thing to talk about it with Luna and Ginny. To speak of varying levels of magic and the need for some to think the wizarding world needed to stay "pure."

It was surreal to think Ginny was standing here, wielding a weapon and ready to defend herself. _But they don't look like they wanted to fight…_ she realized quickly as she saw Blaise's obvious gesture of yielding. That was curious, very curious.

"Now Ginny," Blaise said, and his use of her first name made her flinch, "I promise, we aren't going to try _anything._ While this is unexpected and definitely not ideal for either of us, can we at least talk this out instead of hiding behind magic?"

Ginny looked as if Blaise had just asked her to jump off a cliff. Boys on the dark side, the ones that found pleasure in violence and laughed at torture, were asking her to just talk? She didn't believe it for a second.

But it was Hermione who believed Blaise. She put a hand on Ginny's shoulder, encouraging her to lower her wand. Violence never solved anything. "I know it's not much Ginny and I know you know what they're capable of, but please. It would be easier, I know you trust me. Blaise has never given me a reason to be wary."

While this piece of information was supposed to be encouraging, it made Draco cringe. _I've been nice, but all I've gotten is a cold shoulder,_ he thought bitterly.

 _Wait, do I want her to trust me? I don't care about her, she's a stupid muggle-born, remember?_ Even his own thoughts seemed desperately confused. He shook his head as if he could clear them with sheer force.

"Saw that," Theo said under his breath as he walked over to where Draco was.

Theo put his hands on the back of the chair and Draco gave a heavy sigh. "Shut up."

Ginny finally started to lower her wand, but she didn't make an effort to put it away. Her face was stern as she crossed her arms. "So, what are you all doing here then? Interesting place for a couple of Slytherin elites to just happen upon."

"Seriously Ginny," whispered Hermione. Snide remarks like that weren't going to get the truth from them.

"Why should we tell you Weaselette?" Draco said. "You could be trying to find a way to turn us in to the Order." His voice was accusing and angry; he still didn't look well.

"Because I'll turn you into a fucking ferret again and give the cage to my brother Charlie to feed to the dragons!" said Ginny sharply. Draco glared at her. Hermione was suddenly vastly more interested in the fact Ginny's brother worked with dragons than the fact Ginny had insulted Malfoy once again.

Theo couldn't stifle a chuckle and when Ginny eyed him equally as threatening, he defended himself. "That would be bloody brilliant actually, I would love to see it! Merlin, I remember Pansy always going off about you, you know you're the only one that ever gave her a run for her money and she hated it," Theo explained. "Now I know why."

"Parkinson is a load of Hippogriff dung and you know it," Ginny said of their former classmate. "She not along on your little vacation?"

"No, she's not here," replied Theo, gripping the back of the chair nervously. He felt sort of intimidated the more she spoke. "Good thing too, I think I would lose my mind with her complaining. She's a fucking nightmare."

"She gave you head as a birthday present once, so you can't really hate her can you?" Draco said to Theo and Theo's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. Draco laughed, but it sounded hollow with his stressed emotions.

"Oh come on, I wasn't the one who fucked her every other week," Theo was defensive.

"Shut up, we don't need to go down _that_ road," Blaise said, looking annoyed. A look of utter disgust spread in an instant across Hermione's face and she gave a loud scoff.

Draco turned back to the original conversation, trying to ignore her. "They could easily turn us in Blaise. We don't have much in the way of trust. We should keep our distance."

"Look Draco, we don't really have a choice! If we don't explain ourselves we'll seem guilty. We ran and they need to know why so that they don't bring the fucking Order here to deal with us!"

"Well hurry up, I'm all ears and I don't have very much patience when it comes to shitty Slytherins and their problems," Ginny yelled over both the boys. "Do tell why the sons of the most piece of shit death eaters happen to be so far away from destruction?"

Blaise narrowed his eyes at her. "They may be pieces of shit, but they're still our families, okay? You don't realize how hard this fucking is for us, do you?"

"Yeah well, you could have chosen a different path. It's not like you didn't have options," Ginny stated firmly.

It was Draco who spoke, the anger rising steadily in every word. "That's where you're wrong Weasley. You don't fucking realize! I've never had any other options but the ones put in front of me by my own family! Last I checked you don't disregard that, or at least in my house when you do, you learn to never disregard them again!"

"What will they do to you, if they find out?" It was Hermione who spoke up, defensive and bold, changing the subject. "Torture you? Beat you up? Cut your balls off? All because of a little dirty blood," she mused. "Was it worth it?" she spoke with pure sarcasm. Spite couldn't be hidden from her tone. Blaise and Theo looked suddenly alarmed at the realization of the truth behind Draco's distress.

She wanted to hear him admit he was scared; she could see it in the way his eyes darted nervously at the mention of torture and dirty blood. He most certainly was still struggling with the muggle-born thing and he had much more to say than he was letting on. She'd get it out of him, she just knew it.

Draco tried to calm down. He didn't like that she was right; that she had both the power to seduce him and the power to bring his emotions to the surface just like that. She was really getting him worked up and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take it. _Neither of us are any different and I don't fucking understand!_ He screamed inside his own head.

Draco took a few deep breaths trying to relax. He had slept with a muggleborn and here she was in front of him, perfectly normal and functioning and fine. She was still just a girl, like Theo said. _A girl that fucking knows I'm not okay. A girl that knows how to fucking get under my bloody skin!_

Blaise and Theo both looked worried watching but Hermione wasn't the least bit affected. She kept her confidence and gave an equally fierce glare. "You're really not even going to respond?" she started. "Can't even give me the time of day because of that dirty blood again…"

Draco, who had so often used language like that before, couldn't stand hearing it from her. "I thought you were a fucking witch, okay?!" he growled. "I saw your little trick in the bathroom mirror, with your hair! You did magic! I was drunk and terribly horny, any hope that you were a witch seemed like winning the fucking grand prize!" his voice was sharp and loud with his aggression.

"I disregarded the crazy circumstances that meant a witch here in this muggle trap was dangerous and I disregarded how fucking annoying you can be! I didn't think about the lessons my father told of how mudbloods should go to hell and I didn't think about your blood. You were fucking hot and wouldn't stay away, you made yourself a perfect fucking target, I just followed through to the fucking bullseye!"

The words went flying out of his mouth before he could stop them and he looked overwhelmed with finally saying them out loud. Hermione turned bright red but still didn't back down; her temper was right with his. Ginny's eyes were wide and she looked like she were interested to see if Hermione could make Malfoy truly break.

"Merlin I didn't see the consequences until it was too late. And I don't know if muggle blood is truly dirty, I've never stooped low enough to actually find out," he said angrily. "But I was taught much worse, I was made to be a pawn in a game and I found out much too late that there was no way to fit what I've become…"

"But you think you know everything simply because of what you see, yet you know absolutely nothing. Not even you two," he glanced at Blaise and Theo who both looked solemn, "would understand. Because you've never had your choices torn away from you!"

The room grew cold and the air was stiff with the weight of Draco's voice. He took a few deep breaths, unable to really calm down. He had finally let himself make his own choices Saturday night and they had proven to crumble everything he believed in. He didn't trust himself and he was scared.

He couldn't believe what he had just said; all those truths spilling out in a rush of anger. Anger at his family for treating him like a soldier instead of a child, for the misguided desire for power so many men fell victim to. To his own blindness to it all being wrong.

No one knew what to say. Hermione sat biting her lip, confusion replacing her fury. _A pawn in the game… no way to fix what he'd become… he never had choices. Now we're getting somewhere…_

The more Hermione considered his inability to change his own fate the more she understood his struggle to make up his mind. He was being run ragged deciding if sleeping with her had changed everything. All his life he had been forced or told what to do. And now, when he'd finally made his own decisions, it had led him to go against all he ever believed was right. It was no wonder he was going crazy.

And she remembered how sleeping with him had changed everything for her. Finding out about the real magical world existing for all these years in secret had been a dream come true. All because he had filled that glass.

Maybe Malfoy's emotions were proof enough the boys were telling the truth. You didn't struggle this much over nothing. Hermione was finally starting to see the bigger picture; as much as Luna and Ginny had mentioned Voldemort's evilness and how everyone was taking up sides, it was not as real as Draco's emotions made it. His nightmares had only been a glimpse into the horrors he must have faced. Hermione felt suddenly overwhelmed with sadness.

When she looked over at him, Draco had his head in his hands and rubbed hard, like he could rub the hatred for himself away. He looked down so he didn't have meet anyone's eyes, trying to think of anything but this conversation. She frowned.

"Well, that's some progress mate," Blaise said softly, trying to make the whole room feel comfortable again.

"Shut up," Draco managed. A stray hand rubbed his neck and she could see the tightness in his veins. Everyone was silent for a moment before the trapdoor swung open with one big slam. They all turned and blinked as Luna popped her head inside.

"Oh… my…" she said, unable to come up with much else. She looked just as shocked as the three boys. Ginny smiled.

…

"What the hell," Blaise was fumbling for his words, too flabbergasted by the fact Ginny found a way to contact Luna in the short time they'd been standing fighting in the tower.

"Thanks for the heads up of where to find you," Luna said to Ginny, as they exchanged a knowing look. She stood up to stand by her friends. "And good thing I did. You all sounded pretty heated as I was trying to answer the question at the door. What are you three doing here exactly?" while she hadn't raised her voice, it held a firmness about it that made them feel obligated to answer. She pulled her wand out from behind her ear quicker than they realized and held it in front of her.

"We've been trying to get to that for a while now," Theo said without thinking.

"Well go on," she said, looking to Theo for some words.

"Uh, well…" he stumbled. "Since that battle, school's been closed so we've all been forced to get involved," Theo said reluctantly. "I kept getting roped into these projects. My dad called em that. He got promoted when the new minister got hired, head of the Youth Training Program. They want to implement it next year… when they reopen Hogwarts."

Theo looked at Ginny's shock and saw Luna's jaw drop and he nodded solemnly. "Yeah… they had me and other kids practicing ancient spells and hexes. Wanted to see if they'll work out well or not _teaching_ the dark arts. He wants to start em young and Hogwarts is the biggest school in Europe."

Hermione shuddered . What? Theo could not be serious… teaching the dark arts to children?! Ginny still appeared in shock and Luna frowned, her brow furrowed in an anxious line. "That can't be true, you're lying! You're trying to scare us!" Ginny said, her voice a little shaky. She wasn't sure she believed her own words but she was hoping they were true.

Theo lifted his shirt then, revealing a long scar that trailed from his belly button across his hip. "This is from a Slashing Hex misfire. My dad was teaching it to my eleven year old sister. She'd got her wand only a week before. This isn't a joke. We aren't lying to you."

Ginny looked suddenly sick. "Wh-what… that, that can't be happening. That's just-"

"Wrong?" Blaise suggested, finally finding his voice. "It's true. I know it's difficult for you to accept that maybe we changed our minds, that we didn't want to become assassins and weapons for the dark side…"

"I was working on legislation," Blaise explained. "Your father's department Weasley is completely gone, by the way. I take it he's with the Order but he'd cry if he knew it's been replaced with the Blood Status Validation Office." The color drained from Hermione's face; Draco turned further away, like he was desperate to ignore the entirety of the conversation.

"They were going to start interrogations in June. Wanted me to lead my own task force, able to use the Unforgiveables on suspected muggleborns who they believed had stolen magic. I vowed to leave before then," he stated with disgust.

"My family has vacationed not far from here, there's a big lake to the east. I stayed in my family's cabin for a while under wards until Draco found me. We moved so we wouldn't be caught and I decided hiding with muggles would be the safest. This uni seemed like the perfect spot," Blaise explained. He looked to Draco, who was still brooding; he showed no signs of adding to the conversation. Blaise sighed.

"Draco left shortly after me. He was…" Blaise hesitated, "he was much more involved than Theo or I ever were. It's why this has been so hard for him…" he looked at Hermione apologetically.

She was still in shock of it all and the stress on Ginny and Luna's faces didn't look much better. They all felt unbelievably torn at hearing the truth of the Slytherins leaving. They really had run and Ginny, whose long standing prejudice had continued even into their conversation moments ago, felt unable to comprehend what this meant.

"I had my mum send my sister away," Theo told them. "When she was safe I planned my leave. Told my mum I'd find these two if I could. Blaise's owl found me three days later and I had to arrange a portkey to get me to them. And here we all are…"

Ginny looked away shaking. She hadn't known things like that went on within the death eaters. She knew they were cruel to others, but not each other. She couldn't imagine fathers forcing all this on their sons; they truly were evil and deranged. Were these boys going to prove they were different? They had left…

Luna looked from Blaise to Theo and back again, contemplating their stories. They gave enough detail and judging by the looks on their faces, she knew they were telling the truth. Yet it was still difficult to hear. She didn't want to admit that so much progress had been made on the death eaters' part. But it had and she felt utterly conflicted being here with Ginny, hidden from the wizarding world. They might have helped stop some of this if they were still with the Order. Damn Kingsley for making them go into hiding!

Hermione stood nervously, taking it all in. When Theo had shown his scar she remembered seeing hundreds littering Malfoy's body in the drunken haze of his bedroom. He had been equally as abused by family. Friends. People he trusted. These poor boys standing in front of her, who she had once taken as ordinary, snobby college guys, were now seen as broken and tragic. They had left because there weren't any other options. A lump formed in her throat and she tried to swallow it away.

The wind seemed to pick up outside the windows and they shook. A chill was seeping in and no one spoke for a minute. The reality of Theo and Blaise's words really got to everyone. Blaise sighed. "It's a harsh reality but when the people you trust, the people who raised you and claim they love you don't even really care for your safety, your integrity… your sanity… well you can't stay."

Hermione tried to muster some courage but she still appeared crestfallen. "That… that sounds horrible," she said softly. "I'm sorry for you, really. For… all of you." Her empathy for them seemed to resonate in her voice.

"That shouldn't… that kind of violence and abuse within your own families. It's not right. Ever." she looked at Draco brooding and wondered what he was thinking. She wondered about all the things he'd been through, all the things he'd seen and felt. "We, we shouldn't be fighting you. We should be trying to help you," she said and Blaise looked grateful.

"Help isn't the word I'd use," said Draco under his breath. Flashes of his father, the feeling of the Imperius, dark magic that would make anyone feel deadly; he didn't believe anyone could do much to help him after what he'd been through.

"No one asked you," Ginny commented coldly.

"Ginny," Luna said with warning in her voice. She placed her wand back behind her ear, but she still stood with the girls by the door.

"No she's right. You don't want to know what I've been through anyway," Draco was quiet and still didn't turn to face them. Instead he stared out at the dull sky like it could give him answers.

"Come now," Theo said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Don't want to share about the Manor and your lovely personal time with Voldy and your dad?" Theo's own hatred for the men was clear in his sarcasm but Draco didn't find it very funny.

Draco waved a hand and suddenly Theo's mouth was snapped shut. It was as if glue had stuck his lips together and his mouth was unable to open. He looked at the girls and Blaise desperately, making nothing but humming sounds. His hands were frantic trying to pry his lips apart.

Hermione stifled a snicker; she didn't want Malfoy thinking she found him amusing. But he hadn't even used his wand or said an incantation. It was impressive just like the water in his room had been. He looked over in time to catch her brief smile and immediately looked away.

"Drake, fucking stop," Blaise sighed, annoyed. "Undo it, now." Draco sighed before waving another lazy hand and Theo could once again move his lips apart.

"You piece of shit," he said, shoving Draco's head. Draco shoved him back over the top of his chair and Theo stepped away.

"Enough," Blaise stated. "I don't have time to babysit you two. Act your age not your wand size, you arses." Draco and Theo didn't speak and Blaise looked satisfied.

"How much did you know about our whereabouts before you and Lovegood went into hiding here? Have the death eaters put out a search party or anything?" Blaise asked, changing the subject. They needed to know if anyone else knew they were here.

Ginny still looked suspicious as Luna answered. "You've been missing for months, maybe 7 or 8, since the end of winter. I think you and Malfoy longer than Nott," she said to Blaise. "But it was a pretty big scandal that you all did. The Ministry has had layoffs and mysterious accidents, more than half the staff has been replaced." Blaise didn't seem fazed by this, so she figured he already knew the new minister was clearly on Voldemort's side.

"The Ministry and the Prophet, they never said you guys ran; it was more like a tragic kidnapping. They claim the Order's behind it which, we both know isn't true," she said. "But otherwise we've been fairly cut off from contact with anyone."

"Alright well, typical of our parents. Wouldn't want anyone to think their precious, perfect children would actually run away from them," the bite in Blaise's words was stark. He looked irritated. "As far as the death eaters are concerned, we've defected in their eyes. As much as it might appear they'd be happy to have their young followers return, I think we both know what we'd be in for. It would not be pretty. Draco's not the only one to have slept with someone of your blood status around here and we know so many of their secrets…"

Malfoy fidgeted uncomfortably when Blaise mentioned his name. As Hermione watched him she saw that his grey eyes were still a mess of uncertainty. She went over to the fireplace then, avoiding eye contact with him, and busied herself with starting a fire. She found a discarded box of matches on the mantle.

"You are really a muggle then, huh?" Theo said as he watched her light it with a mangled old box and a stick.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "I'm getting sick of that fucking label. I'm a _person_ , but apparently you all are too stupid to comprehend that," she stated, staring at Malfoy.

But her words did nothing to rouse him. He still looked a mess despite his best efforts at a scowl.

Blaise shrugged. "Sorry about the label, but you do realize what this whole war is about, right?"

"Yes, for Christ's sake!" Hermione stammered.

"Who's Christ?" Blaise asked, confused.

"Nevermind," she huffed, shaking her head. They wouldn't get the colloquialism even if she explained it.

"But how do we _really_ know she's been living in the muggle world," Theo said, "she could be a Beauxbatons or Ilvermory student easily and still be muggle-born." He looked at her like the answer would come to him if he stared hard enough. She felt exposed and narrowed her eyes again.

"Why the fuck would I be attending a muggle uni and have a 4.0 if I was actually a witch?" she asked. "I can operate a coffee maker and a telephone. I have pictures from my prom in my room and I have a driver's license. I think I can prove I never got the chance to live in the wizarding world."

Blaise looked at her sadly. "It's not right that you never got your letter. I'm sorry Hermione, I really am. The magic world isn't all bad and it's not fair you haven't gotten to experience it properly. I'm sure you'd make a brilliant witch."

Draco gave a small cough and it sounded a lot like the word, "flirt" through his breath, but Blaise ignored it.

"Oh don't even start," Hermione said to Malfoy, annoyed. He was still staying silent and it was starting to really piss her off because she knew it was eating him alive. They were discussing her blood status and he could do nothing because he had already admitted just how terrible he felt about it all. How unsure he felt.

"Why, it's true. He's all about you, you know," Draco said quietly to her.

"I already have you hating on me for my blood. I don't need to get you jealous because I'm shacking up with your best friend too," she said, a fierceness to her voice that made him blink several times in surprise; he hadn't expected such audacity. She shot him a dirty look before standing up from the fireplace and walking away.

"And here I thought you were practically crying because of our tragic lives earlier," he said simply as he watched her go back over to where Ginny and Luna were. "My mistake."

"The only mistake you made was sleeping with me, okay so just stop!" she said, her voice rising.

"Alright let's just calm down," Blaise's voice interrupted them. He couldn't watch another fight break out and the girls had looked nervous once again.

"It wasn't a mistake," Draco said before he could stop himself. And he immediately regretted it. He paled.

There it was, the truth straight from his own mouth. It was what was causing all his aggression. Even after he found out she was a muggle-born, he couldn't say he regretted sleeping with her. He was perfectly fine and nothing bad had happened because of it. She had him hooked on her passion and fire and he sort of hated it. She was driving him mad because he knew how wrong so many people thought it was.

When he looked at her, he saw her standing there having heard his words, not comprehending. Confusion and shock welled in her eyes but she stood, arms crossed nonetheless, trying not to seem like she was about to scream.

"Excuse me?" Theo asked, eyebrows raised at Draco's statement. Draco's cheeks grew red and he smashed a fist into the back of the armchair.

"This is so fucking hard…" his voice was barely a whisper. He had his hands over his head again, looking incredibly aggravated as he stood and walked to the furthest side of the room away from them all.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" Ginny asked quietly. Luna stared at him nodding.

Draco paced the shelves, pausing to punch one. When Theo saw, he was at his side in seconds, snatching Draco's wand from his pocket before he would think to use it. Theo's own wand was in his free hand, pressed to Draco's arm to keep him under control. Hermione gaped.

Blaise spoke up. "I'm sorry," he said, taking a seat. He looked even more stressed than before. "The things he's been through are worse than Theo and I… he's, he's not in a good place. He did this to me earlier this week," Blaise said pointing to the remnants of his black eye. "When all you know is violence... there's got to still be a trace of good in him. I know it. I think you've seen a glimpse." It wasn't an apology but it was all he could do for his best friend.

Her brown eyes met Blaise's and she sighed. All the fighting was starting to weigh on them and they all took a minute to catch their breaths. The air in the room was still too uneasy for anyone's liking. She darted back and forth between the boy with white blonde hair, freaking out over blood, and Blaise's calm but desperate words. All this fighting wasn't getting them anywhere.

Forgetting they had all been studying into all hours of the night this week didn't help. And old classroom rivalries didn't go away overnight, no matter how much they'd wished they would. It was clear that Ginny had some serious issues with these boys in the past and things wouldn't clear up with just a little chit chat. Luna was a little more level headed; she could see they had potential to change, she just was wary to give them the chance.

Draco looked on edge as Theo tried to talk some sense into him. But it was no use; Draco's mind was going crazy. Theo's wand pressed into his arm and he pushed him off only to have Theo walk back up to him, still holding his wand at him.

"Have you gone mental?" Theo whispered, half confused and half concerned as he looked at Draco's ragged appearance. "Why do you continuously pick fights? It's not going to solve anything or change the past!"

"I just- fuck, this is all so much, I don't understand! What I'm supposed to do Theo?! What am I supposed to feel or think or say!" Draco's voice was frantic. He was breathing heavy and his hair a mess of tangles from him pulling it so much.

"Hang on, what? I'm still preoccupied with what you said," Theo said gruffly. "I never thought those words would come out of your mouth in that order but they did so you must think or feel _something_."

"Fuck I can't believe I said that out loud," Draco whispered furiously. "I'm freaking out Theo, I'm totally fine and nothing has changed and _I_ _don't understand._ My father's going to murder me, ten times over if he can, Merlin I'm going to be strung up outside Malfoy Manor by my ball sack, just watch!"

"It's going to be alright Drake, seriously calm down," Theo said, lowering his wand. He realized suddenly Draco was panicking out of control. He made Draco turn to look at him. Draco's lip twitched.

"Look, I get it. It's overwhelming. But she's just a person mate. That's what she's been trying to tell you and we've been trying to tell you. You've got to remember that. It doesn't matter what the blood in her veins is like, as long as it's moving," Theo explained, like it could really be that simple. "And your father can go to hell! Wasn't it you who told me he was a lousy piece of shit not a hundred times since coming here? He's never steered you in the right direction, I don't see why it should matter now."

"It's difficult to see," Draco's voice could barely be heard but he realized the truth in all of Theo's words. "I don't think like that normally. All I've ever saw is my own superiority, my own worth. When I tried to be my own person he'd punish me so bad, it was just… just _awful_ …"

"Yes, but all the shit you've seen the past few months has had to have changed your mind. With all the hell your dad put you through, all the shit You-Know-How did… this just confirms that it's all rubbish," Theo said. "Sleeping with her, it not being a regret. That's big mate. Really."

And maybe Theo was right. Maybe it was what Draco needed to hear this whole time. He had for so long believed what his father said was truth, was the law. Yet he'd never really seen how backwards it was until now. He'd been stopped from being himself so many times he felt like he was just a paper version of himself, used and disposable.

But for once, he was seeing he could change that. Sleeping with her did nothing and so much at the same time. He turned suddenly away from Theo and started to walk right over to the fireplace again. Theo bolted after him, following his every move. He still looked like hell and his hands were still shaking as he reached for a cracked vase that sat on the mantle.

"Draco," Theo eyed him suspiciously, wondering if any of his advice had actually taken hold. When Draco reached inside, he pulled out a bottle of fire whiskey that appeared half full.

"Oh come on, I think we could all use this right about now," Draco stated, thinking of his own racing thoughts. Granger had a lot more power over him than he liked to admit, but it showed him just how much influence his father truly had on him. And he regretted that for sure.

As he waved a hand several glasses magically appeared on the table in front of him. If everything he was dealing with was laid out for all to see, he needed a drink and fast. He wasn't used to the vulnerability.

Theo shook his head, but took a glass from the row sitting on the table after Draco filled them. At the sound of glass, Hermione and Ginny looked over. Blaise, who had watched it all, had narrowed his eyes worried.

Hermione gazed at the bottle like it was holding all their breaths. She wondered if it was the same stuff she'd drank with him on Saturday. It had the same amber appearance and she wondered if all this stress could just be escaped that easily; with a glass or two. Or seven…

"Theo has my wand if it's any consolation," Draco said to no one in particular before he slugged his own down in one gulp. Blaise sighed, ready to pull his own hair out.

"You're such a fucking cunt," he said to Malfoy as he grabbed one of the glasses.

Ginny looked unimpressed at the sudden appearance of the alcohol and even more unimpressed by the boys in front of her. She gave Hermione and Luna a look of disbelief. Hermione just stared.

 _What the hell was Malfoy playing at?_ She was furious. How did he manage to make her so angry and then go around and offer everyone drinks? What had Theo said to him? Had he been a voice of reason or?

He had said sleeping with her wasn't a mistake. Did he really mean it? She remembered the glimmer of fear in his eyes when he had realized he'd said it out loud. And now, she noticed, he appeared to be staring back at her with a mix of fear and confusion.

It was like everything had caved in and he wasn't quite ready, but he was being forced to try and make do. Things could go south very easily with alcohol involved and there was still the question of what they were going to do about everything… her annoyance at it all was making the alcohol look better and better.

After another minute of silence Hermione finally moved. _Fuck it,_ she told herself as she made her way slowly towards the table. She grabbed a glass as quickly as she could. Looking him in the eye as she put the glass to her lips she whispered, "fuck you," just because.

He made no move to take his eyes off her and went to refill his own glass. This woman was going to be the death of him. _What is happening to me…_ his mind felt chaotic, the alcohol a saving grace. He poured a third glass and finally felt the lick of flames in his throat as he swallowed it down. It was better than the crippling fear now running through his body. He poured himself another.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate/co-harry potter fanatic/literally one of my best friends is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

 **Life's tough and i'm busy af. sorry this took forever to post. I'm not going to lie i don't know when ch15 will be done either, but thank you all for your patience and continued reviewing!**

 **enjoy xoxo**

The fire whiskey seemed to regenerate in the bottle Draco continued to pour from for a fifth time. Alcohol made it easier for them all to sit together in this room and not rip each other apart. He looked over at her; she sat on the floor, head lost in a book she snatched from under the coffee table. He could just see the curve of her waist curling against Luna's armchair and he found himself forgetting to breathe.

Draco sat against the windows, shaking the ice in his glass. Blaise was speaking quietly to Luna opposite him, still working on finishing his third glass. Luna had actually taken a glass herself and it sat on the coffee table in front of her, half full.

Ginny was wandering around near the table, looking at all the papers and books. She frowned every now and then, debating what in hell they were actually looking up. Theo stared out the window, his fourth drink in his hand. His jaw was a sharp line to his sullen features. Alcohol was affecting everyone differently.

He turned his gaze back to Granger and watched her slender fingers curl gently on the spine of the book. He wondered if she had her own problems she was were dealing with, problems that went beyond the world she now found herself in. She had parents, possibly siblings. Other friends. Had they been as loving to her as his had been to him?

She was just a girl, who must have grown up like a regular kid, having to learn and grow and think and form opinions. Just like any of them. Just like himself _. But she hadn't known magic,_ he remembered. _Her childhood must have been so different…_

She probably hadn't known the joy magic could bring until that first time she did it. He wondered what she had done. It had probably been by accident, like young witches and wizards do when they can't control it.

 _She was probably scared,_ he realized then, not knowing what was actually going on or what magic even was. He couldn't imagine. It didn't feel fair and he wondered if the alcohol or something she said was the reason for him questioning his family's beliefs. All the sympathy started to leave a weird taste in his mouth.

 _What about her parents?_ He wondered then. Had she sought answers from her parents or maybe they had seen it happen. He couldn't even imagine the fear, the shock. How could they have taken her seriously? It kind of made him sad, as he realized they must not have.

"Ahem," it was her voice that interrupted his crazy thoughts. He hadn't seen her move to set her empty glass back on the table between them. She looked at him, annoyed. The bottle sat at his feet and she could just see it in the shadows.

Irritation was evident in her eyes, but for some reason Draco couldn't look away. He didn't move. "Stop staring, I'm not a looking glass," she said sharply. She held out the glass impatiently, in case he hadn't seen it.

Draco looked away and sighed, not sure what to think. The sympathy he had felt for her was still fresh in his mind and it was an uncomfortable feeling knowing she had just caught him. He waved a hand, sending the bottle flying over.

"If you can do magic, why couldn't you just get it yourself?" he stated. It poured her another and then set itself down on the table. She merely shot him a nasty look and disappeared back behind the book.

Hermione scowled to herself. She didn't want him to know she didn't think to just summon the bottle over. She sipped at the drink and tried to focus on the lines on the page in front of her. The book was going on and on about some cursed time turner that some warlock called Ignotti Leone invented in 1406. But she couldn't make herself care about what a time turner even was.

She was too preoccupied with wondering what kind of hell was going through Malfoy's mind right now. She looked over to the boy brooding, who's back slanted against the cold windows. Despite the fact half of him was in shadow, she could see he was staring at the flames swaying in the fireplace. His mouth was a harsh line.

After his fourth drink in an hour, she noticed his eyes had finally softened. His gaze became more vacant, like he were thinking much too deeply. A hint of curiosity lay behind confusion and it made Hermione edgy. She hid behind her book.

 _So, what does this all mean? What have I done to him?_ She thought. In one drunken night of bliss she had altered his entire being. She sort of felt proud of herself. Here was this arrogant son of a bitch who thought he could walk all over her and now he was sitting in the corner, ready to break. She had pulled down his guard to reveal all he held in.

Hermione sighed. _And my, what a complicated mess he truly is…_ After seeing him so unstable earlier it felt wrong to be proud. She had made all these emotions and questions from the past bubble over in a matter of minutes. Fear was something he wasn't used to showing; he had no idea how to deal with any of this.

 _The same blonde that curled an arm around my waist and pulled me close in his own bed was good at hiding the pain, hiding the fear. Good at hiding everything_ , she reasoned. _Yet I can get to him. Why me?_ It was a very curious thing, she realized.

She sighed and looked over the top of her book at him. A frown wrinkled his cheeks and he looked exhausted. She almost wished she had another blanket for him… _Why do I care so much? Is it because I think he can be helped? Can he be? Should he be? What am I even considering?!_

She shook her head suddenly aware of the intensity of her thoughts. She looked at her half empty glass then back to the page, searching for the point she left off. She gulped down the rest of the liquor. She started reading, hoping it would distract her.

In the meantime Draco stood sipping his drink, too on edge to sit still. He walked over to stand by Theo, not really sure what to do. Draco didn't feel much like talking; he let out a small sigh and Theo perked up, glancing at him.

"She still not talking to you?" Theo asked. They were well out of earshot of anyone else.

"Yeah," was all Draco could manage. He stared at the rain that just began to fall as the sun melted behind the trees. The water dragged long lines against the glass and he traced one with his finger. "This whole thing is messed up."

"I wouldn't say that," said Theo, thinking. "You got a lot off your own chest."

"Fuck off," Draco replied. "I didn't need to get anything off my chest. I just… it's messed up. They're going to try to turn us in, I just know it. Why wouldn't they?"

"We would be very useful to the Order, don't forget that," Theo said. "They'd be smart to take us in as friends rather than enemies. Plus I reckon she fancies you, so the girls won't ignore that, as much as it might bother them. Weasley clearly still _hates_ us."

"'Fancies' is a strong word Theo," Draco said, his jaw tight.

"Yeah well, you're a smart bloke, what's a better word for the way you've been staring at her the past hour and she at you?" Theo asked, genuinely wanting to know. Draco turned scarlet.

"I haven't been staring," he defended. "It's just… I don't know okay! What is it with her? She sets me off Theo, you remember back at the party! You said it yourself I got jealous when I saw Blaise talking to her, like what was that? She knows how to get under my skin, showing me how fucked up I am like she's seen it all along…"

"Um, maybe you genuinely like that about her," Theo explained slowly, like he were talking to a child. Draco looked ready to punch him.

"I don't, she's…" but Draco stopped himself; he didn't continue the sentence. His hesitation made Theo turn.

Theo raised his eyebrows. "She's what?" he dared. Draco put his head against the glass, begging the cold to ease his stress.

"She's… something else," he finally said quietly, looking to see if anyone heard them. No one had. The alcohol was starting to hit him; his thoughts swirled. _I don't know what to think anymore…_

"She's seriously getting to you isn't she? Is this because of the whole blanket thing, I feel like it is," Theo was saying before Draco cut him off.

Draco looked livid, "or you know, it's because the whole muggle-born thing."

"Good, you admit it. This wasn't really about her per say, but you know, you're allowed to change mate," Theo pointed out. "All you're taught isn't all that's out in the world." He wondered if Draco had ever considered that before. "You can make your own choices, no one's here to stop you or force you otherwise."

Draco looked defensive at his friend's words, but only because they were so clear and true. It was the first time in a long time that he could do what he wanted. While the idea was tempting, it was also terrifying. It felt like there was still some part of him being dishonest, soiling the Malfoy name and he worried what they'd do to him if they found out.

"I… I don't think I know how to do that," Draco said slowly.

"Maybe you should just fuck her again then, see what happens," Theo suggested. "That was a choice. Fuck her until you don't feel awful about it anymore. Because sooner or later it's going to hit you that it doesn't fucking matter, you're naked with a beautiful girl and that should just be worth it in itself in these fucking times!"

Draco had to laugh. For all Theo's trying, it was good to finally hear someone make light of it. "You suck you know that? You're just as bad as her, trying to get me to cope with all this deep, emotional, real life bullshit," Draco told him.

Once Theo had mentioned her, images, conversations, and feelings from Saturday crept into his mind. And he couldn't be angry, they were lovely. She had been intriguing and sexy and he was feeling more confused than ever. _I chose to bring her home, to sleep with her…_

"I know, but I'm one of your best friends Drake. We don't exactly have many of those around anymore," Theo said sadly. "Look, it's a choice you could make again, I'm not saying you have to. I just don't think you hate what you've done. I think there's a part of you that's realizing just what this means, how important this action was for you in terms of friendships, relationships. Blood status is insignificant," Theo said, emphasizing the last four words. "And she made you realize that. We don't expect you to be okay with that overnight."

Draco didn't know what to say. Theo was right, so right. There was nothing he could argue and he frowned. "Weasley and Lovegood. They've already poisoned her mind about how terrible we are. It's not like she can't see how fucked up this world is, there's a war about to happen. We're in the middle of it if we're found."

Theo rubbed his chin. "Granger doesn't strike me as the type to let other people's opinions affect her own. She'll take the time to figure you out for herself and that is why she's picking you apart. You're not used to it. I know you and how you are with women," Theo said, recalling how his friend rarely invited real relationships with women into his life; girls knew nothing more of him than superficial thoughts and material wealth.

Theo paused to take another sip of his fire whiskey. "But," he said feeling the liquid burn his tongue, "give her a chance and I think you'll be surprised. Who cares, the death eaters will make our lives a living hell if they ever find us again no matter who were shagging, so what have we got to lose? She's just a girl mate, it might be good for you to have one."

Draco couldn't find his voice to respond, but an answer came to mind: _Nothing. I have nothing to lose._ Draco glanced over to her again and he could just see the side of her cheek behind the blue leather she held up in front of her. _She's just a girl…_

She was just a girl when they'd first met at a party. She was just a girl when they talked in the coffee line and she was just a girl when he took her home. And she was just a girl when she curled into his arms in the early morning, before she ran off. And she was just a girl now. _One I'm very interested in,_ he realized suddenly.

An unexpected burn shot its way up his forearm and he winced. It was like the dark mark on his skin sensed the beginnings of opposition. His hand shot over to it and he rubbed the spot to make it stop. _She complicates things when it comes to this,_ he grimaced.

Theo straightened, eying him knowingly. "Your mark? Thought you had an enchantment on it?"

"I do," Draco said through his teeth. "Apparently it's wearing off."

"That's not a good sign," warned Theo.

"I'm aware. I'll recast it later," Draco said, dropping it.

"You taking the pain because you think you deserve it is not a good sign either," Theo stated firmly. Draco looked away.

"I… It's not like that…" he tried, but stumbled. "I need to just think straight and figure out what actually happened over the course of the last few months. I just… I have to consider my family," Draco managed. "I still love my mum. She's not exactly the sweetest out there but she is damn well good at dealing with my dad. And then dealing with me dealing with my dad. She deserves a fucking medal. I can't just turn my back on her…"

He raised his glass to his lips and drank the rest down. His mom could be bold and aggressive, especially when anyone threatened her only son. She certainly had her fair share of bruises from Lucius but she had always managed to get in a punch or a nicely timed hex. His father would sleep in the study those nights. Draco wondered what was happening to her now that he wasn't there to give her strength.

"I can't argue that," Theo said. "I remember when she taught us that Hair Chopping Spell because you said you were tired of listening to Pansy every morning at breakfast," he recalled, trying to remember the good times. "Pansy's hair was up to her ears! Madame Pomfrey had a hell of a time regrowing it."

Draco laughed. He had forgotten all about it. "Merlin, that was so cool. She and Aunt Bella made that spell, it's got an anti-lengthening charm at the end. Pansy was so mad, she didn't talk to me for like at least a month. Those were good days."

"The month free of Pansy or when we were young and didn't have a worry in the world?" asked Theo, his words coming out in a sigh.

"Both," Draco answered, thinking back to his mom at the Manor.

"Go figure," Theo said and both boys were silent. They stared out to the rain drenching the lawn. "Consider what I said, okay Drake?"

Draco didn't look at Theo, but his eyes were worried. "Okay," he managed. And downed the rest of his own glass. They watched the rain continue to fall.

…

Ginny gasped from over by the table. Everyone turned, startled. She had been busy flipping through pages of random stuff the boys had dumped there when she flipped over a large newspaper. The picture of another former classmate stared back at her, his smile frozen in a menacing cackle.

"What is this all about?" she said loudly, holding up the page. "Is he near here? Has he contacted you? It says he's wanted by the German police!"

Hermione stuck her nose around her book and squinted. "That's a copy of _The Weekly Gazette,_ " she said, recognizing the font. She always got a paper with her coffee on Thursdays at the café and she remembered seeing that picture of the laughing boy last week. Did Ginny just say she knew him?

Ginny's brow furrowed. "He went to school with us, he's one of _their_ friends!" she stated, pointing at Blaise, then Theo and Draco by the windows. Blaise stood.

"That is why we have been trying to figure out what's going on in the wizarding world," he explained. He walked over and took the paper from her, flipped to the article, and passed it back.

"Fuck," Theo said under his breath, realizing what newspaper it was. He sighed before walking over.

Draco wasn't as eager. He wandered along the windows, trying to let the coolness of them calm him before he went over. His mind was still rushing over Granger and girls and sex and drinking and old tradition. After a few times back and forth he finally leaned against the wall by the fire, where he could avoid being a part of the conversation as much as possible.

"Well that's awful," Ginny said furiously as she got to the end. She went over to Luna and stuck the article under her nose. "Go on, read it! Hermione, this is a muggle newspaper?" she asked too aggressively.

"Yes," Hermione said, putting a finger in the book to save her page. She placed the book in her lap. "I read it every week, it's student run but it's accurate. And I read that last week, they said that boy was mad. He's a friend of yours?" Hermione looked nervous.

Luna's frown deepened as she read on and on. "What are they doing? Was someone on that train that the death eaters wanted?" she asked.

"We have no idea," Blaise said. "And yes he was in our year, in our house."

"Look we've been completely cut off," Theo said it hoping they'd really believe him this time. He snatched up the bottle from the table and refilled his glass. Draco held his own out for Theo to fill, but he refused.

Draco scowled. He fished in his pocket then and pulled out what looked like a cigarette. Hermione eyed it. Draco lit it with a snap of his fingers and took a long pull. The smell of the herb swirled into the room.

"Well this isn't good if they're making their way into muggle papers," Luna said. "Is there anyone you still trust on their side that you would contact?"

"I mean, very few. My mother. Possibly Theo's sister. She's at Beauxbattons," responded Blaise.

"How do you suppose we reach her, just fly right to the front doors of her school and ask to speak with her? I don't think that would work well," Theo said, shaking his head. "We're being searched for too. And even with people to contact, we don't actually have a way of doing so. Patronuses are too easy to track, we never learned Apparation. Portkeys sounded good but we couldn't get the wand work down. Even Mister Wandless Show-Off over there couldn't manage to repair the vanishing cabinet we found in his house," he said of Draco, whose scowl worsened at the words.

"Um, what's a patronus?" Hermione asked in a timid voice. "And all those other things? Did you say vanishing cabinet?"

Blaise looked like he wanted to laugh but was too upset. "Patronuses are a type of Shield Charm. They can be used to send messages but they take a specific form depending on the person. They're too identifiable."

"Apparation is basically teleportation," Luna explained, "but you have to learn it right or you can really hurt yourself. Portkeys are objects bewitched to transport people upon touch at a certain time. These are all common ways witches and wizards travel or communicate, but they're too easily tracked. We considered all the same things."

"Yeah, and I don't know about you three, but sitting here not knowing what's going on is awful," Ginny chimed in. "It's torture not being there with them! We tried Eavesdropping Spells with Lengthening Charms to account for distance, but there doesn't seem to be any wizarding communities near here. We didn't get a chance to try floo but-"

" _Don't_ try the Floo Network," Draco said suddenly, his voice like gravel with the smoke. "They've all been rerouted."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "What? You can't be serious."

"They all take you straight to the dungeons… in Malfoy Manor," he said sharply. He didn't look up at her. He could sense that Ginny was ready to punch someone.

"Malfoy Manor?" Hermione said.

Draco closed his eyes and sighed. "You called me out for being rich before I ever confirmed it," he stated, taking a drag.

"You don't care what Floo is, just too distracted by his money and his mansion," Theo laughed. "Watch it, you might actually be perfect for each other."

Hermione turned red; she almost chucked the book in her hand at Theo but decided against it. Instead she spun a finger in the air, thinking about the spell Draco had used earlier to shut Theo up. In seconds, he once again couldn't speak, his lips sealed shut.

Muffled and panicked sounds came from Theo. Draco looked at him and he smirked. Blaise and Luna were smiling, trying not to laugh. Hermione waved her hand again releasing Theo's glued lips. They listened to him gasp with relief, panting.

"Merlin, you're a fast learner," he said, rubbing his jaw. "You two are something." The words were strangely charged coming from his mouth. The smile dropped from Draco's mouth. Hermione looked away, embarrassed.

Luna eyed Hermione, interested. " _Anyway,_ Floo's a network of fireplaces. You use magic powder, throw it in the flames, it turns green and you travel through it. Not the cleanest, but gets the job done," she explained. "But I can't believe they've managed to hack into _that_ system! That's not easy, by any means, it's highly intricate magic to make the powder and to redirect every single fireplace..."

"The inner circle isn't just there because they worship him like a fucking saint. They provide the money and the intelligence to make things happen," Theo told them.

Blaise sighed. "A vast majority of the death eaters and their associates are stupid, but not all of them. The amount of connections the death eaters actually have to brilliancy is extensive."

"Oh so worshipping him, that's just an added bonus," Draco said, sarcasm oozing from every word.

"That and the house," Theo said. "He's made good use of that, don't forget."

"So they _are_ using your house as headquarters?" asked Ginny looking wild with the realization.

"They've been using it for years now," Draco managed. "Painfully irritating."

He didn't know why he was telling them. Maybe it was just time to stop holding everything in.

"We guessed that's where everyone was meeting," Ginny mentioned. "I mean, the wards around the whole estate are insane. Mad Eye was sent to do some investigating before he died and said he could only get within 500 feet of the place. For him, that's saying something."

Draco's eyes stared at her, pink and strained in their sockets. "Yeah well, the property has been in our family for at least a century. It has years of enchantments and protective spells around it, it's basically impenetrable."

Hermione gaped; wards? Protective spells? A guy named Mad Eye? This new world was just starting to unfold, but it left her with more questions than answers. She wanted to learn it all, yet she couldn't get a word in edgewise. Talking about the war took too much precedence with her friends and they didn't give her time to speak.

"Does the Order have anyone looking for us?" asked Theo.

"Last we knew yes, if I remember right there's five different search teams," Luna told them. Draco grimaced.

"Fuck, why five?" he said, annoyed.

"They're not all just centered on finding you three," Ginny sneered. "Some of them are hunting the search parties that are on his side. The ones your vengeful parents sent out looking for you, they have a bad habit of destroying innocent peoples' lives while enroute."

"Shit," Blaise said.

"Bets on who they sent?" Theo glanced from Blaise to Draco. "Scabior's lot for me, most likely. Blaise your Aunt probably volunteered your Uncle Luke."

Blaise looked smug. "Yeah, then Greyback and the wolves for Draco. He still fancies your mum, he'd do anything for her."

"Ugh, fucking Greyback. He can go to hell," Draco said, annoyance clear in his voice as he remembered all the times Greyback had made less than appropriate comments about his mother when she wasn't around. It was disgusting. "Give me that bottle."

"No," Theo said.

"Did you say wolves?" Hermione felt a shiver down her spine; maybe she had heard him wrong. Wolves? _Wolves?!_

"Werewolves to be exact," Luna said, putting a hand on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione's eyes went wide. "Very misunderstood creatures."

Draco glared and whipped his hand through the air. The bottle soared right to him and he caught it easily. "I win," he said to Theo.

He pulled open the stopper and refilled his glass. "They're more than misunderstood," he said then. "They're foul and vicious. Greyback's favorite to bite are children and the bastard can change at will, you can just fucking imagine how terrifying that is."

Hermione looked like she was going to faint. "He bites… children? And what do you mean changes? I'm still stuck on the whole fucking werewolf thing, we sort of don't have those here in this world," her voice got increasingly more nervous as she spoke.

"I wouldn't make that up," Draco said, looking Hermione in the eye for the first time. The gaze was sharp and intense and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Let's not go there," Ginny said, thinking of Fenrir Greyback and his crooked smile of yellowed teeth. Even in his human form, they made him look wolfish and wild. Chills went down her back as well. "Yes we have werewolves. Sorry to scare you with that, but there's a lot you don't know yet and well, magical creatures existing is one of those things," Ginny stated, looking apologetic. "They change into the wolf form during the full moon and they don't remember who they are. They turn wild unless they take Wolfsbane potion on a regular basis." Hermione tried to breathe evenly. Werewolves?! What other creatures were out there that she'd never before seen?

She glanced at Draco, who was sipping more whiskey. The reflection of the flames made his eyes look anxious. Would their interactions be laced with tension like this from now on? She thought. Was he still thinking about her blood status? Did he care?

"What are we going to do about this article, I think that's more urgent," Ginny said. "He killed people on that train and we need to know if the Ministry is doing anything about it. I wonder if the muggle prime minister was notified..."

Blaise looked dejected. "I doubt the Ministry cares, they're sort of on his side now. Thicknesse is just a puppet, I've met him more than once; completely under the Imperius. As far as Greg is concerned, last I knew his mum's family controlled the sale of illegal potions ingredients. That would probably come in handy in some way to the death eaters, so I'm sure he could have been tracking down a shady client."

"His brute was always good for that sort of thing," Theo provided.

"My whole shoulder was bruised after a Slytherin quidditch match at the start of fifth year. All from Goyle's fat arse crashing into me when he was hit with a bludger," Ginny remembered. "I can't believe he's going off killing people and running around mad! We need to do something, we need to help the Order. We should be helping! We should be doing something! Ugh!" She looked utterly frustrated as she slammed the article down on the table. She couldn't stand not being where her family and friends were, building a resistance.

Hermione looked at her, impressed with Ginny's bravery. She was so strong and fierce, ready to risk it all. Hermione wondered if she would feel that way, once she had a few lessons in magic to give her courage.

"There's nothing we can do right now Ginny," Luna said. "We can't just go back to the Order, we're wanted. And we don't have enough information, I think it's safe to say we need to come up with some sort of plan. We both are involved," she said, pointing to the boys as well as herself and the girls. "We might as well try to figure it out together."

"The place is yours to use," Blaise said, gesturing to the library around them. "We haven't found much in it yet though. It's extensive but old and disorganized. Draco's the one who's spent the most time here, so he at least knows where things are."

Draco tensed. He caught Granger studying him, her features drawn. She turned and looked not the least surprised by what Blaise had said concerning his knowledge of the library. He ran a hand threw his hair, feeling his pulse quicken.

"Are we just going to stay cooped up in this place all night or can we go?" he said so he didn't have to talk about books and search parties hunting them and so Granger didn't have an excuse to be staring at him. He was too emotionally drained to think logically about the situation; he wanted to go home, be alone for a while. Just having her look at him was driving him nuts, what was going on?

"Where do you suppose we go?" Blaise asked him. "Can we really leave each other's company, we'll just be constantly thinking the other is turning us in."

It was apparent that no one had considered this problem until now. They all looked miserable when Blaise had pointed it out, the girls unsure if they would be able to put up with three Slytherin boys for much longer than this.

"So, we all going to bunk in here is that it?" Ginny said, her voice full of irritation. "Make one big happy family?" No one challenged her sarcasm. Hermione watched as Ginny eyed the leftover glasses on the coffee table and the bottle that sat with them. She hadn't touched it this whole time, but it sure looked good now.

Finally Luna spoke. She sighed, "Blaise has a point. As much as we might not like it, it's the only way to know for sure that all of us are telling the truth…"

Ginny grabbed for a glass. "Well fuck this then," she said as she poured herself an unusually large amount. A frown marked Hermione's features as well.

 _Stay with them? Like at the same house she spent Saturday night at?_ The idea of being back at that house and being in such close proximity with Malfoy all night and day made her nervous. What if he got mad at her again? What if he tried to be nice again? She wasn't sure she could deal with either situation well.

"Why can't we just stay here for the night or something? I don't want to go to their house again," Hermione whined. "I have my own place, can't I just go there?"

"No. What if you know how to contact the wizarding world in a way we haven't thought of?" Blaise said, wondering if there was some kind of muggle communication that would work better than anything they'd come up with. "We have to stay together."

Hermione glared at him. "Please! I would have already contacted them if Ginny or Luna had asked me, but unless the wizarding world has a telephone or mailboxes I doubt I'd get through to anyone," she said viciously. She motioned for Ginny to hand her the bottle; she was going to need more liquor if she was going to have to stand being around Malfoy, Blaise, and Theo for the rest of the night.

"They don't use either of those. But your apartment can only fit four at the most, if you exclude your roommate who kind of has claim to a bed over any of us," Luna mentioned. "Plus she's a muggle. Not exactly easy to explain this whole thing to her, as great as she is."

Hermione hadn't thought of that. She sighed stubbornly. Well this was just great. She raised the glass to her lips and drank half the liquid down, keeping the bottle beside her just in case. Draco watched her interestedly.

"There's extra bedrooms at our place. Four if I'm not mistaken," Theo's voice was uninviting but he looked at Draco for confirmation.

Draco instead looked appalled. "Why do they have to stay with us? I don't want them in my house, messing up our shit."

"Just for that I'm going to mess stuff up," Hermione said to piss him off. Draco shot her a dirty look before turning as Blaise started speaking.

"Were you not listening mate? We can't split up," Blaise sounded exasperated. He eyed Draco with apprehension; none of them were ready to have extra roommates, let alone their ex-classmates whom they didn't get along with. It could definitely be a dangerous combination.

"Well Granger, either pour yourself more or pass that fucking bottle back over here," Draco called, and Hermione turned. She looked at him, uncertain.

"We've got to drink more before I'm ready to have you three in my house," Draco said, "no offense but you're all annoying as hell. Not to mention I already put up with Theo and Blaise on a daily basis."

Luna and Ginny gave a small chuckle, realizing they all were in the same, miserable situation; the least they could do is have a good time. Hermione, on the other hand, just looked at him. Would it be good for him to keep drinking? Would the more aggressive side of him come out to play? Would they all regret that?

 _Is it smart for me to keep drinking?_ she asked herself. _I can't believe all of this is happening…_ She untwisted the cap then and poured a large swig right in her mouth. Her lips were red and wet and Draco couldn't look away. The liquid burned on its way down and she wrinkled her nose. Standing, she walked slowly over to Malfoy.

Draco looked scared at first but when he realized she was just handing over the bottle he raised a hand to grab it. But she dropped it right before it reached him and it would have shattered to the floor had the seeker in him not found his fingers moving before he could think. Glaring, bottle in hand, he ripped off the cap and chugged.

The bottle refilled when he set it down empty on the table and Hermione walked across the room to the windows. She pouted and stared at the dark rain. Ginny walked over to her and put her arm around her, whispering softly. New glasses appeared on the table on Draco's command and when he waved his hand the bottle lifted and filled them all.

…

It was after midnight when Draco woke up, realizing he was still in the library. He blinked into the dark room, the coals on the fire smoldering. It looked like Weasley and Granger were sleeping on the sofa across from him and he eyed Granger's chest softly rising and falling. It took him a moment before he was able to take his eyes off her and he hated himself when he realized.

Across the room, Blaise and Lovegood sat at the table talking. Theo was slumped in an armchair on the other side of the room, sound asleep and snoring. Draco got up, stretching his back. It ached from the way he was laying and he wondered how long he'd been like that. He remembered getting everybody drinking again and he remembered chatting with Weasley about quidditch quite heatedly.

And then he remembered how much he tried to avoid Granger altogether. He didn't want to still be attracted to her, but he knew he was. The more he drank the more obvious it became. The few times he had ventured to look at her she was always staring back at him and that didn't help. Why did she have to make everything so difficult?

Draco walked over to Blaise and Luna, catching the end of their conversation. Blaise was speaking, tiredness evident in his tone. "So explain it again, Ravenclaw has this crown thing and it's important why exactly?" he didn't seem to fully trust her. Blaise nodded to Draco when he came up beside him. A book was open between them, a Ravenclaw emblem at the top of the page.

"Yes, a diadem. It's not very big, it has a raven engraved on it. And a large sapphire. It increases the wisdom of the wearer, but it's been missing for years. The Grey Lady wouldn't tell me much, but some man convinced her to tell him where she hid it. Sort of unfortunate if it's still out there somewhere that no one's seen it," Luna explained.

"The Grey Lady is a bitch," Draco said. "She used to tell Trelawney when I snuck out of Divination."

"Typical," Blaise laughed, yawning. "You never liked Divination."

"Yeah, go figure. Professor Trelawney was bat-shit too," Draco said.

"You have to get over her paranoia for everything," said Luna. Blaise and Draco stared. "She is a real Seer, you'd be paranoid too if you had visions that weren't yours."

"I mean, that makes sense and all. It's just, it's a boring subject if you can't actually do it," Blaise said. "Only one of the Patils managed to really do it in our year."

"Yeah, kind of disappointed we never got any better electives," Luna said. "There are a lot of underrepresented occupations in the wizarding world and it's fascinating some of the things we could be learning."

"Durmstrang teaches Magical Theory and Healing, and they offer Magical Law too," Draco offered. Luna looked envious.

"I didn't know that, healing would be incredible," she said.

"Yeah, I had mixed feelings at first, attracted to the academics," Draco replied. "But I think having Karkaroff and the death eaters at my ear every day would have been hell."

Blaise looked at him. "That's something I didn't know."

"Yeah, well. I don't tell you everything." Draco said defensively. "Can we go home?" he changed the subject. "I don't know about you, but I can't stay here all damn night, it's uncomfortable. If you'd have just let me put a bed in here like I wanted-"

"Ha," Blaise said, looking at his empty glass. "A bed in here with you or Theo would be asking for trouble. And it is late, we should have gone hours ago," he said, squinting to see the dusty clock over the mantle. When he realized there were six hands on it he gave up; he looked around the room, only just noticing that everyone else was sound asleep.

"Please tell me there's a charm for getting them there or something?" he looked to Draco hopefully. "I don't want to deal with waking them, especially Theo. You know how he can get, he was thinking about his dad again and-"

"I might be able to figure something out," Draco stated, sleepily. He yawned, pulling his wand out. He thought about all the typical charms he knew that were linked to all Malfoy properties. A few enchantments popped into mind and he selected the best he could work with. It was hard to remember the exact wand movements with sleep trying to steal his mind from him, but he gave it his best shot.

He wasn't about to argue about them going back to the house anymore. They were all too drunk and it was much too late and he really couldn't come up with a real reason not to let them. They did have the space and it was going to be the only real way of keeping an eye on each other.

He looked at Granger still asleep through all the charms. Worry welled in his stomach. What would happen with them living in the same house, forced to interact? Would he ever come to terms with all of this? Would he be able to accept her in his life, despite her heritage and going against his family?

When he finished the last movement, the bodies vanished on sight in a small puff of blue and the room seemed quiet and still. The last spell was to get them through the wards and the color of the smoke had been slightly off; he hoped it had to be enough to get them in. If not in the vacant rooms, at least to the living room.

He motioned to Blaise and Luna to head for the trapdoor. As much as he wished he could use it on them as well, he knew it wouldn't work. His spellwork wasn't good enough to move conscious individuals, especially while he was intoxicated. And if he had been wrong in his spellwork with the others, they were already going to have a problem when they got back to the townhouse.

Draco let Blaise and Luna go first down the ladder. When he finally closed it behind them, the eerie quiet of the empty library made them all cautious. They walked down the entire hall and out the door in silence.

…

"We should have woke Hermione, she could have drove us," Luna said as they got onto their street. It had been a decent walk in the chilly night air and her hands felt frozen.

"You can't get past the wards in a car," Draco explained. "Sorry, I know it's cold."

Luna was struck by his apology; he didn't know why he said it. "It's… not your fault it's cold, but thanks. Some wards you've got, keeping out muggle technology too."

"Yes, my father has paid tons of craft spellsmen plenty of money to make sure our properties are safe," Draco stated. "But I made sure to learn a thing or two from them so I can come and go as I please without them knowing."

"It's up ahead on the right," Blaise interrupted, pointing.

The large staircase loomed up into view along with the obsidian peacocks. They had a layer of frost forming on their beaks giving an eerie look to the entirety of the building despite its architectural beauty. Luna stared at them curiously.

When they'd climbed the stairs and gotten inside, the warmth surrounded them. A fire was already cracking in the living room fireplace and Luna gazed around taking it all in. This had obviously been a Malfoy home at some point. It had such an attention to detail and the room begged of elegance, from the antique wooden mantel to the grand staircase before her. A hallway led off to the left, disappearing into a room of darkness.

"Lovegood, the bedrooms you're looking for are on the third floor. Granger and Weasley should be up there, I think one room has twin beds and one has a full or something so I'd check to see where Draco's spell landed them," Blaise told her. "You might get your own room."

She yawned and smiled a thank you before heading up the stairs. Blaise watched her go before turning to Draco, who was busy taking off his shoes. "You going to be alright?"

"I'm fine," Draco said flatly, standing up. "I'm not, but it doesn't matter. I need sleep and you aren't going to stop me."

Draco nodded and walked right past Blaise, taking the stairs two at a time. He was eager to be alone; his mind swirled with booze and magic and Granger and he needed to sleep it all away.

He had gotten to the top of the staircase and just outside his own bedroom door when Blaise gave a shout. When Draco peered down, Blaise was standing outside his own bedroom door on the floor below, looking in irritated.

"Your stupid spell put Theo in my room!" said Blaise.

Draco laughed. "You know, I had no idea if that spell would actually work, it was for furniture to be honest. At least I got them here," Draco reminded Blaise. "I would say wake him but good fucking luck. He's like a ghoul when he's drunk."

"He didn't drink that much did he?" Blaise was saying, looking back into his bedroom concerned.

Draco laughed. "Just go sleep in his unless one of the girls ended up there," he said and disappeared behind his own door. When he shut it, the peace and quiet overwhelmed him and he sighed. _Finally,_ he told himself.

But the click of the door and his breath were not the only sounds that resonated in the quiet of the dark. A sound came from near his bed, a soft mew of someone turning in their sleep. Draco paled. _Fuck._

Snapping his fingers furiously, the fire which was nothing but embers, grew big bringing a rush of light. By it he saw Granger, curled into the green sheets like a cat. In her drunken sleep she seemed to have a smile on her pretty lips. Draco couldn't stop staring.

 _Fuck,_ he thought again. He mind was furious. _What, is it because she was on my mind all fucking night she ended up here?_ He sighed.

 _Do I just… leave her there? Ugh I just wanted my own bed…_ he sighed again. _I can't get in there with her, not at all._ He looked over; seeing her now once again enveloped in green made him think of Saturday.

Had she stayed what would have happened? Would they have fucked again? Would she have stayed for breakfast and be convinced to come back? How would it be different if they had continued seeing each other? Became friends… more than friends?

 _A muggle-born,_ he thought. It was just a name. She was peaceful for the first time in hours; finally unbothered by all the hype of attempting to understand years of magical fighting let alone the skill of magic itself. Her brown curls splayed over the pillows and Draco thought about how many times she showed genuine interest in his well-being despite being told just how vile a person he was.

 _She's just a girl_ , he reminded himself as he looked out the balcony doors to the frosty early morning. When he looked back, the ideas of prejudice swelled around the beautiful girl he saw lying there. For the first time, it didn't feel fair. He watched her stir and she whimpered. She was mesmerizing. He thought about kissing her and how everything had been fiery and intense. He longed to go back to Sunday morning and finish what he didn't even get to start.

 _Whoa, what am I saying?!_ Draco was suddenly very aware of how his thoughts were drifting. _I can't, I just… no…_ he turned away. He wasn't interested in her, was he? He quickly made it to the fireplace, giving a small snap to lower it back down to coals.

He'd sleep on the sofa, it was the only way. He didn't want to dwell on anything that had happened in the last several hours. Especially on what had just happened several minutes ago.

As he summoned a blanket and kicked off his jeans, he considered what he was doing. _See, I am fucking chivalrous,_ he thought.

The room seemed to spin as he reached for the pillow, both with liquor and dreams of magic. _What am I going to do about her?_ He thought seriously, as he lay down. _Granger…_ his eyes closed and he was out before he could finish the thought.

…

When Hermione blinked, she didn't recognize the ceiling above her nor the furniture all around. She looked up at a giant four poster bed that seemed to surround her; the sheets that were curled around her when she looked down flashed emerald green.

 _What._ Hermione sat up instantly. _This cannot be happening, this isn't real, this- Am I fully clothed? Am I?!_ She threw back the sheet to reveal jeans and her sweater, still fully intact. Her shoes were off, but upon further searching, she found them on the floor. At least having her clothes on was a promising sign.

She knew whose bed she was in, but there seemed to be no trace of him. She turned, gazing around the room. She saw the back of the white couch and the coals in the fire still smoldering. The curtains hung smoky gray but not drawn, so the first stretches of morning sun reached their way across the dark hard wood. The room felt empty.

A snore drifted up from somewhere close by. That's when she spotted a hand reaching over the back of the couch. Unable to tell but assuming it was Malfoy, she wondered what the hell was going on. She racked her brain for any pieces of the night that she could, wondering where she had gotten lost.

The last thing she remembered was leaning against Ginny on the sofa in the library because she was tired. Ginny had draped her arm across Hermione in a comforting sort of gesture that Hermione was only too glad to take; she must have fallen asleep.

But then… _how did I get here? Did I wake up and we all walked together? Had Malfoy agreed to me sleeping in his bed or was this a mistake?_ The questions didn't stop coming.

A loud sound cut Hermione's thoughts in seconds. All she heard was the word, " _father."_ It was said like he were pleading. Hermione froze and stared at the back of the couch; his hand grasped in desperation.

 _He's having a nightmare,_ she realized. Her feet slipped to the floor slowly. She crept across the dark wood, the couch looming in the dull light. Peaking over she saw his face, a mess of anguish. His gray eyes were hidden and he clenched his jaw too tightly. His hands curled into fists and he dug his nails into his palms.

The blanket was twisted around him as he spoke again. " _I- I can't do that. That's just… it's asking too much!"_

There was a pause, as if someone else were speaking to him.

" _You're using the Cruciatus on me dad! Your own son!"_

Hermione watched, horrified. Suddenly, Draco was digging his nails into his left forearm, as if he were trying to claw off his skin. The agitation was raw on his features and his body was rigid trying to fight the pain he felt. And Hermione just couldn't stand by and watch.

She rushed around to his side where she could have better leverage. She yanked apart his arms, hoping it would be enough, but the minute she touched him he flinched.

Draco flexed his arms back and away from whatever had hold of them. The dark mark burned his flesh and he couldn't stand it. He had to get it off him. He reached back for the spot, his nails raking against the skin. He wouldn't stand for it anymore.

Hermione fell back onto the rug and struggled to get up. She went as fast as she could and once again wretched his left arm away from his right. When she got them loose she held on tightly, not noticing her hand lying right over the mark. It was hot, as if the skin were being burned.

Malfoy struggled a bit against her grip. Hermione took a second to catch her breath. She had his arm in both of her own and slowly she felt his pulse start to slow.

After a few minutes she wondered what she should do. She could see his breath was still shallow. He stopped fighting against her hold and lay still, his face contorting in confusion. She slowly knelt beside the couch and closed her eyes, trying to slow her own heartbeat. She didn't notice the beginnings of consciousness coming back to him.

She still hadn't let go of his arm. _What am I doing?_ Hermione thought suddenly. She opened her eyes and looked at his arm felt heavy and soft and tense and real. She could still feel his pulse. What had he seen, what had his words meant?

 _The Cruciatus does not sound good…_ she thought. She looked down at her hands, the sections of tattoo shining dark. The ink seemed to shimmer and move, as if it were alive. She felt sorry for him, if he had truly seen such bad things, done such bad things that he wanted to harm himself. It felt as if her heart hurt.

She sighed, looking at his face once again. She was just in time to see his eyelids begin to flutter. The anticipation in her blood skyrocketed. She held her breath for the whirlwind that was about to come.

…

Lucius, the Manor, and death eaters a plenty. A broken wand, a man crying, and the Cruciatus. His Aunt Bella laughing like a maniac. All of the images fell away as the burning pain of his dark mark seemed to take over his entire being. The pain stretched through his body as if his blood was on fire and boiling.

But then someone intervened. Someone had come in the way and pulled at him, urging him back to reality. He couldn't tell what was real, the pain in his arm felt so strong and the touch of the person so real. What was going on? Was he still dreaming? Was this person on his side, trying to help him? Did he want help? Could they stop all this pain that coursed through his body?

No, he thought, resisting. He was going to have to stop this himself, wreck this stupid mark that caused him nothing but pain and problems. He reached his hand aggressively towards his other arm, his nails like claws as he came in contact with his own flesh.

The raking feeling he felt as he scraped at the skin only made the pain worse. This didn't make any sense. He just needed to get this fucking mark off. As he went after it again, the other person pulled against him, stronger this time.

He flinched feeling the person's grip tighten. Cool fingers wrapped around the burning flesh where the mark lay and for a second, it felt like the pain was going away. The coolness of the person's grip was enticing and he tried to focus on that instead.

After a few minutes, the person began to relax their grip. They held onto his fingers, as if it would keep the pain at bay, and so far that felt like it was working. Draco felt his breathing coming back to normal and was sort of thankful for the person or dream or whatever it was that had intervened.

He tried to blink, but everything was still foggy. Who was it? Who had stopped everything, he had to know. He finally blinked, trying to make sense of what was in front of him. There sat Granger, her lips still pouted in concern, making her look all the more embarrassed to be caught like this. Draco's jaw dropped and he sat, unmoving.

In seconds she dropped his arm. Draco winced, feeling a bit of the pain coming back to him. It wasn't unbearable but it still ached and that worried him more than he wanted to admit. When he glanced at it, the black ink shined violently.

She was frozen to her spot on the floor, clearly worried. Why was it always her that found him after a nightmare, when vulnerability took over. He sighed, thinking that the last time she was here she were wearing much less and looked significantly less scared.

The strangeness of it all seeped out from the shadows around them. All the craziness of the past twelve hours cumulated all at once in this very moment. They sat in silence, neither knowing what to do.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I found a prompt on tumblr and rolled with it; it's on the first chapter. I don't own it. My amazing roommate/co-harry potter fanatic/literally one of my best friends is helping me edit and I couldn't thank her enough, Jackie S. Also, I am obviously not the queen JKR, bless her soul, so I don't own HP or any characters or any of that jazz. First fic, leave me something to improve onn or what you liked about it or what you'd want to see happen or whatevvvvs. Kthanks.**

 **again, my life is busy af and i thought i'd have much more time to actually get this up. I feel awful its been forever, and i promise i'm not abandoning this fic! please enjoy this chapter and know that i'm working on another. reviews are welcome and needed please tell me if its shit or good or what lol xoxo thanks for reading!**

Her eyes stared in anticipation and she held her breath. Her cheeks were flushed. Draco's gaze darted away, scared.

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the stiffness of sleeping on a sofa. His chest was bare in the early sunlight and he looked at the scars on his chest and ribs. Exposed and bright white in the light, he was suddenly more aware of just how much he'd been through these past few years. It seemed surreal.

And then the feeling of eyes still watching him. No, not watching. Studying. She was reading his every move so methodically he couldn't figure out what she was thinking. It angered him as much as it intrigued him. He couldn't remember what their final words had been to each other before they ended up here, taken over by sleep.

Her concern was what got him most. Why did she have to keep coming back? Why couldn't she just stay away from him to make this all easier? She could have easily just let him have the damn nightmare and taken the stairs as an escape. But she had tried to help. And it made him oddly grateful.

But now the dark magic ached in his bones. It was like he was coming down off a drug and he searched in vain for the part of him that could utter a thank you. Looking out the balcony windows, he saw the fog choking the trees. He gave up on the thank you and chose indifference instead.

"Do you need something?" he said, not looking at her. Maybe he could get her to just leave.

Hermione's eyes were searching. "I- well, no I guess not." She looked away from him. "I just…"

Nervously she glanced his way and was surprised to catch him staring back. He looked a wreck. "Are… are you okay?" she asked quietly. She looked at the scars once again and then to the spot on his forearm she could barely see.

He felt uncomfortable at her inspection of him. "I've had worse," he said, his voice a nonchalant ring to the seriousness of the nightmare she had just witnessed. Hermione narrowed her eyes doubtfully.

Draco shrugged. "Why don't you just let me deal with my own problems, okay?"

"Because you don't appear to know how to actually do that," she said with sad sincerity. "You were trying to hurt yourself that's… that's never okay," she stammered. She looked away.

Draco looked back at his forearm to the mark. Scratches of raw skin went across the skull, barely making any real progress in getting the ink off. Two lines ran all the way to his wrist, but neither was more than superficial.

She had a point, he reasoned. It was like all the blood purity lies were eating him alive with how backwards and wrong they were. He had done and said so many things in the past and now they were slapping him in the face. Sleeping with her had done absolutely nothing and now he was here, trying to come to terms with it all and she had to find a way to be right by his side.

"Why do you have such a bad habit of finding me at my worst?" he said, his voice quiet and agitated in its honesty.

She shrugged. "I'm incredibly good with people who suffer nightmares." He scowled at her words, trying to hide his vulnerability. Something told her he didn't like hearing the word nightmares out loud. "Was it your father using that spell on you in your dream?"

Draco was still so tired. How did she know? He didn't want to play this game, so instead of fighting he said, "Yeah, it was."

"Why was he cursing you?" she asked.

"Why do you care?" he countered, annoyed.

"It helps to talk about it," she said easily. "So why?"

But before Hermione could ask any more questions the door swung open. A tall, unsteady and unkempt looking Theo wandered inside, looking at the bed. When he found it vacant he tilted his head around the room before spotting his friend on the couch. He smiled.

"Oi, if you don't feel as shitty as I do right now then I'm beating your arse to the ground okay?" he called, walking over. His eye sockets were purple from drunk sleep and his eyes were a bit bloodshot, like Draco's.

Theo strolled in towards him and flopped into an armchair before spying Granger. A huge grin rolled across his cheeks.

"Oh, shit. Fancy finding you here of all places…" he said to her, eying Draco in accusation. "Do you guys need a minute, should I come back?"

Draco closed his eyes in frustration and sighed. While he was happy to be done with Granger's little chat about his feelings, Theo was going to be an even bigger irritation to him. "What do you want Theo?" he asked reluctantly.

"Oh, just came to harp on you for pouring round after round and making me feel like shit, that's all," he said with a note of sincerity. "I didn't know where I was when I woke up just now, I think that says something about the strength of your fire whiskey."

"That's because you were in Blaise's room you idiot," Draco said, remembering Blaise making the discovery the night before and his miscalculation of the hallways in his levitation spells.

"Ah, but who's fault is that?" Theo said as if he didn't already know the answer. "I'm guessing yours Draco, with your little house spells and all. A little too drunk to get me to the right room, eh?"

"You know, it was dangerous even trying that on humans I shouldn't have-" Draco started, but Hermione cut him off.

"Is that why I ended up here?" she said suddenly. "Why the hell would you perform magic on other people when you're drunk?"

Draco narrowed his eyes. And she had been so sympathetic and nice just a few moments ago; he couldn't believe he had actually planned to answer her questions. So much for that.

"Uh, because I believed I was fine. Because I know a lot more about magic than you are currently giving me credit for, it's not like you would have died," he defended.

"Interesting… so Drake, you slept here?" Theo pointed to the blankets and the couch. When Draco nodded, Theo chuckled. "And they say chivalry is dead." Hermione pouted, looking uncomfortable. Draco looked ready to punch Theo in the throat.

"So, anyway," Theo went on, sensing Draco's resistance. "What's up? How did you sleep? What the fuck are we going to do about all this fucking shit?"

"All what?" Draco said, not really listening.

"All these people out looking for us. What our parents are doing. Hogwarts reopening. Goyle out on a rampage. The three witches currently in our house, one of whom is a muggleborn," Theo reminded him. "No offense," he nodded to Hermione, sounding half joking, half concerned. "All three of you are a liability to people like us. Actually, especially to us."

Hermione glared. She took it too seriously. Annoyed, she flicked a finger sending Theo's hood up over his head. The strings pulled tight and soon nothing but his nose was visible.

"Hey!" he shouted, his voice muffled from the fabric.

"I am not a liability," she stated simply. She was tired of these boys thinking they just knew everything! She crossed her arms in front of her to make herself look strong despite her spot on the floor. She swished her hair over her shoulder to solidify her statement and Draco found himself staring.

She looked different than he remembered. He had admitted before she had nice qualities, especially in attractiveness. But now, as he looked at her, she looked more like a person than he'd ever noticed. She had character, she spoke her mind, she was fierce. And he could really admire that.

He sure couldn't stand up for himself. He eyed the black ink, bitter and straight against his veins. Engrained there, forever. The feelings mixed and weighed heavy on his shoulders. He was confused and scared.

Theo sneered. "All this bloody wandless magic, I'm going to have to start carrying my wand more often." And suddenly Draco realized what had just happened.

She made a precise, non-verbal spell _wandlessly_. Now that was impressive. That meant she could fare much better during a battle than most. Her opponent would not know the spell coming to him and she didn't have to worry about losing her weapon. Somehow the fact she was muggle-born and this bloody clever didn't add up. Weren't muggles supposed to be very stupid? Awful?

"See, you take for granted that instrument of yours," Hermione said to Theo. He stuck out his tongue.

"We're more a liability to ourselves at this rate," Draco reminded Theo, gesturing to the state of the two of them. "And she _is_ good."

Hermione looked a bit surprised by the compliment and eyed Draco rather curiously.

"You're the biggest liability, Mr. Death eater in-training," Theo said with a bitter, spiteful laugh. He was being particularly cruel this morning and Draco sighed, wondering what kind of nightmares his friend had had last night. By the sound of things, it couldn't have been good.

"It's too early for this," he stated before things could escalate. They both needed to get their minds off their dreams. "We haven't even had breakfast."

Theo rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet as Draco put a hand in the air. He did a crisscross pattern that looked quite intricate. In seconds a silver tray appeared full of pastries and fruit and coffee and tea. It arrived out of thin air and slid forward right to the middle of the coffee table.

Hermione was suddenly aware of how close she was to Malfoy and how it must have looked odd to Theo. She scooted herself so that she could sit off to the side, at least putting some space between them.

When she looked up, the steaming pot of coffee that was beside the tray lifted itself and poured into a nearby mug. When it was full, the mug floated over to Draco's hand and she watched him welcome it eagerly.

She eyed him. He was staring at the cup, his eyes glazed over in solemnity. Whatever he had dreamed about was clearly still on his mind and it had to do with his father and some kind of dangerous spell. And now he was complimenting her out of the blue, like when they'd been in line to get coffee before Halloween. Why was it so hard for them to stay mad at each other?

She wondered if Theo was suffering from similar nightmares. He was being much less carefree and easygoing than she thought he was. Although she hadn't known him as long as Malfoy or even Blaise, they all seemed to have some underlying issues in the mental sense of things. Probably some emotional issues too with all that dark magic and violence.

"Ah, you're a life saver," Theo leaned forward and swiped a muffin, looking as if the food was a very welcome relief. Taking a bite, he noticed Hermione staring at Draco, who wouldn't move his own troubled gaze from his hands.

"Does he know about them?" Hermione asked then, referring to Theo and the nightmares.

"Do I know what?" questioned Theo.

"Don't," Draco groaned.

"Then tell me what the Cruciatius spell is," she bargained. Theo looked serious.

"How do you know about the Cruciatius Curse?" he said, his voice dropping. "You've just learned about our world, if I remember correctly. You haven't been sharing horror stories with her have you Drake?" Theo's eyes turned cold.

"No," Draco sighed, defeated. "I had another fucking nightmare. She intervened."

"Fuck. That makes you and me both," Theo said sadly. "Without the intervening part. What was it about?" Theo tried, knowing Draco usually didn't share.

Draco's voice dropped low. Hermione watched him nervously. "Night before my initiation. First Cruciatius I ever received," His voice was low and steely and irritated.

Hermione was finding it difficult to stay quiet. She was desperate to know how badly he had been hurt or traumatized by this spell if it was causing him to want to hurt himself. "The spell, what does it do?" she asked quietly.

Draco closed his eyes. "It's not a spell, it's a curse." He wasn't sure why he was telling her. "The torture curse. It's considered unforgiveable."

Shock set in on Hermione's features, her arms went rigid around her. _Torture?_ She said to herself. And his father… the color drained from her cheeks. She looked suddenly very upset.

"The three unforgiveables _used_ to be unforgiveable. The legal status changed this past May however," Theo's voice was stiff. When he ventured to look at Draco, he could sense his friend's uneasiness with everything. Draco wouldn't look away from the dark mark. It glared up at him from the blankets pooling on his lap.

And Hermione couldn't look away from him. She wondered what was going through his mind. She wondered how such a person could have so many mixed feelings all at once. Theo swung his legs off the arm of the chair and sat up, his chin in his hands.

"Drake, we've got to keep up our Occlumency. I know it's a pain but it's the only way for us to actually get some sleep around here and we have been slacking a lot," Theo said. Draco sighed but said nothing. He rubbed his tired eyes as more sunlight began to pour in.

"And we have to do something," Theo said quietly but seriously. "We can't just sit around anymore. We helped cause this."

Draco wouldn't look at anyone. He knew that was true even before Theo said it aloud. Maybe that's why this was all so difficult; his past was marked up with so many more unforgiveables than the three Theo mentioned.

Hermione looked forlorn. She felt for him. She didn't know why, maybe it was because at one time he'd shown he could be sincere and likeable and she really wanted to know where that side of him was hiding. He obviously had a caring heart somewhere in there, the times he'd actually talked to her like a person and the way he'd held her when she'd slept over Halloween night was evidence enough.

Before anyone could speak, the door opened once again. A girl strode right in, her nose up the minute she got inside at all the fine furniture. When she eyed the three by the fireplace, she frowned. She eyed Hermione sitting on the floor with a mix of curiosity and worry. When she approached them, the boys saw how uncomfortable she was in all the Slytherin green.

"What's up?" she said cautiously. "Are you alright Hermione?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hermione said slowly, not fully confident in her own words. Draco still didn't look anywhere but down at his cup.

"Are you sure? Because if they've done something to you, you can tell me, they can't pull shit like that with me around, I'll-" Ginny started and it finally got Draco's attention. He shot her a laughably vicious look.

"It's like you don't trust us or something," he said. His forearm gave an itch of pain reminiscent of the night and he winced.

"What the hell was that?" Ginny asked, noticing him flinch.

"Nothing," Draco said through gritted teeth. He released his grip but the pain lingered a little. Ginny stared at the mark with wide eyes.

"Nightmares. Draco's been getting them ever since he left. I only get them every once in a while, like when I drink heavy or have a shitty day," Theo mentioned casually. "Anyway, it makes him all the more charming the morning after, when he's feeling remnants of old spells. And yes that's the dark mark. Please don't freak out about it."

"I can't believe… it's such a rare piece of magic. Harry had me researching it back in sixth year with him," Ginny said.

Draco glared. "Charming looking, isn't it?" Draco's voice was defensive as he gestured to it. He was being utterly sarcastic. "I'm a fucking rarity all my own."

Ginny sighed. It was as if all the fighting of the night before had tired her out. She sat in the chair opposite Theo so she could be near Hermione. She blinked a couple times, still nervous.

"Rare you most certainly are," Blaise said in a deeply sarcastic voice that spilled into the room from the hall. He sauntered in, looking around curiously.

"You sure are chipper," Theo sneered.

"Too chipper," Draco muttered, craning his neck to see Blaise coming toward him. He was alert and well rested, his dark hair already combed and neat.

"Hangover Tonic before bed always helps," Blaise told them with a smile. "For being so good at potions I'd have thought you'd already have taken one." He stood behind the couch and Draco could feel his ominous figure staring down at him. He didn't like it.

"Hope you didn't spill any in my room," Theo said with a scoff. Ginny looked at him, confused.

"Why was Blaise in your room?" she asked.

"Draco's little spell last night to get all of us sleeping ghouls home sort of backfired," Theo explained. "You and Granger and Lovegood were supposed to be in the spare bedrooms…"

"I was in what I'm guessing was a guest room? But that means… where the hell did you end up Hermione?!" Ginny said too loudly, clapping a hand on her mouth when she realized whose room they were currently in. Hermione's shoes were still by the bed. She glanced from Draco to Hermione and back again.

"He slept on the couch," Hermione's voice was flat, pointing to the blankets.

Draco rolled his eyes. "The spell is supposed to be for inanimate objects, you guys are lucky I didn't like, leave your arm behind or something."

"Are you serious?" Blaise was suddenly incredulous. "I thought you said it would be fine! No serious damage if there was a problem!"

"They are fine," Draco reasoned, "but I never guaranteed it. And I certainly didn't try to place people in certain bedrooms." He shot Theo a stern look, knowing it was what he was thinking.

"Alright, let's calm down with the bickering," Theo said instead. "Seriously, we have so much to do."

"Like what?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Well, we still want to find out what's going on in the wizarding world. And Draco and I have to practice some Occlumency. And it probably wouldn't hurt for Granger here to get some training done too," Theo listed off the items as if he were reading a grocery list.

"Occlumency? You said you were fine," Blaise said through gritted teeth to Draco.

"Yeah well, guess I need to practice more," Draco said not looking at him. Blaise, in a huff of anger, crossed his arms and walked over towards the balcony windows. He stared out, too irritated to respond.

"Alright, well we can't just stand around," Hermione stated, standing. "We need to wake up Luna and then we can all work together to fucking come up with some answers. I'm assuming there's a library here?" she turned, pausing before looking to Malfoy for an answer.

No one else was really offering anything constructive, so he didn't hold back this time. "Yeah, it's on the third floor," his voice was low.

"So why don't we all go up there, we can spend the morning doing research, we are all done with mid-terms right? We can take this week off to spend some time on the basics of magic for me and you guys can practice whatever that Occlums thing is," Hermione explained. She meant Occlumency.

"That's probably the best idea actually," Ginny stated with a small frown.

"That's what I'm saying Gin," Hermione smiled. "At least we'd be doing _something._ And besides, I'm no use to you guys if I don't learn magic like a normal witch." The word felt strange on her lips and even stranger when she remembered she were calling herself one.

Blaise looked stern. "I'd say it best you learn magic Granger because you're walking with a very dangerous crowd. I hope you understand that."

He nodded to Ginny. "I hope you and Luna understand that too, you obviously know how you stand when it comes to the death eaters… they could find us at any time." He didn't mean it to come off as a threat, more as a warning. The girls nodded in solemn understanding.

"Come on Theo, we should see if there's some rearranging to be done in the library before everyone comes up," Blaise called from the door. "Could do with adding some extra tables and chairs most likely. Draco can meet us up there."

Theo looked to Blaise, wanting to stay. Blaise glared and Theo got up reluctantly. "I suppose one of you can wake Luna then? She's a Ravenclaw, bloody useful she'll be sleeping away while we're working hard," Theo said and he disappeared down the hall.

"Yes, I'll make sure she's awake," Hermione said. She was staring at Malfoy, who refused to look at her. He still looked disheveled in his pile of blankets. His pale skin was ghostly in the rising sun. She wanted to say something, when everyone left. But she wasn't sure what.

Ginny headed towards the door, not looking back at Malfoy. She paused at the door when she saw Hermione hadn't gotten up. "Come on Hermione, you're going to want to shower after sleeping in here," there was humor in her voice but you could tell Ginny didn't trust leaving the two alone.

"Yeah," Hermione said a little distantly. "Coming," she pulled her eyes away from him and stood. She smoothed some crumbs from her jeans and sighed before taking one last glance at Malfoy. He didn't move.

She walked toward Ginny who, upon seeing her friend now following, made her way out into the hall. When Hermione got to the door, she heard his voice. It was incredibly low and just audible above Ginny's footfalls on the stairs beyond.

"Thank you." Blush rushed to her cheeks. She left without looking back.

Draco didn't move for some time after everyone left. He sat, quiet and still, thinking about what he said. Thank you. It shocked him too much to believe they had been his words. He stared out the window wondering what this all meant.

…

Hermione held Luna's wand. It felt too crooked in her hand and she couldn't find a good way to grip it. She frowned as she swished it for the third time and nothing happened. Ginny had kindly explained that it wasn't going to work perfectly for her because it wasn't _her_ wand, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

"I think it's just how you're saying it," Ginny said. "Really emphasize the 'o'."

"Wingardium Levi _o_ sa!" she said again, swishing the wand. The feather quill twitched and lifted up off the table, floating several feet up into the tall cathedral ceiling of the library. A smile came to her lips suddenly and Ginny laughed.

"There you go!" Ginny said, watching the feather. "It's just getting the pronunciation right. Charms are tricky that way."

Blaise and Theo sat at the other end of the table. Blaise had looked up from his book, distracted. "Very good," he said looking at her. Draco looked over from a high window ledge where he precariously sat, a large book laid open in front of him.

It was evident she was a lot better at magic than anyone realized. For years she had been doing wandless magic of her own, figuring it out in some trial and error sort of experimenting. Now, with a wand in her hand, she had already mastered several simple spells in the matter of a few hours. Despite little frustrations along the way.

"Now, add in the first one you learned," Luna said, coming down the nearest aisle with three more books in her hands. Hermione looked at her and then turned back to the feather. It had floated back down to the table.

She concentrated on it and, without saying the words, swished the wand in two more patterns. The feather suspended in air as far as she wished and stopped. It floated elegantly without losing height and Hermione smiled.

"Very good!" said Luna. She carried the books over to the boys and set them between them. Theo groaned.

"We've been going forever at this, I can't take it. This is as bad as trying to figure out where Dumbledore's fucking Army was practicing in fifth year," Theo stated, looking irritated.

"What?" Ginny looked over quizzical.

"What, you think we just waltzed by one day and discovered there was a hidden room on the seventh floor?" Blaise asked.

"You know how many Gryffindor girls I shagged just because they told me they were in the D.A. and would tell me where?" Theo laughed. Ginny's eyes widened.

Draco snickered. "And zero of them were helpful, but I am still impressed you got Lavender Brown. She had her eyes on your brother for so long Weasley that I doubted she'd ever fool around with one of us so easily."

"Lavender slept with you?!" Ginny's mouth was open as she stared from Draco to Theo and back again.

"With me, yes," Theo smiled. "Fine she was too, once you got over her severely annoying, high pitched voice. She didn't stop talking even when I was going down on her, I swear."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Luna closed hers in disgust. "That is way more than I needed to know. Thanks for the mental image Theo," she said.

"No problem," he smiled, getting up. He walked over to where Hermione was still standing, the wand at her side and the feather back on the table. "You know, you don't have to choke the thing to death," he said, grabbing her hand so she'd relax her grip.

Draco eyed Theo's every move. He looked annoyed at Theo's proximity to Granger and he disliked the way she was so comfortable with him. Every time Draco got close to her she was tense and angry. _Well, except this morning…_

As Hermione let the wand sit comfortably in her hand, Theo let go. "There, that's better. Now how about we try a defensive spell, since you know, Blaise did mention we aren't exactly grand people to be hanging out with."

Theo took out his own wand then, a long piece of wood made of what looked like ash. Its handle was well worn to his hand. Hermione smiled. Weren't these boys supposed to be pretty shitty? At least that's what Ginny and Luna had said, but Theo was nothing but genuine. At least when he was busy cracking jokes.

"Now, the spell is _Stupefy._ It's a basic defense spell that should throw your opponent backwards if done right," he said. "The more power behind it, the further and harder the blow."

"S _tupefy. Stupefy._ Okay," Hermione repeated. She held the wand in her hand out in front of her.  
"Good. Now, follow me," Theo said and he began to flourish his own wand in a short series of movements. They didn't seem too tricky and Hermione practiced a few times with him, making sure to get it all correct.

"Now put the spell with the wand movement, I'm not going to fire a spell at you in case it doesn't work, I'll just give you a free shot at me. I'm a gentleman like that." Theo laughed as he raised his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Hermione smiled at his joke but Draco just looked even more irritated. Blaise snickered at Draco. He hadn't resumed reading; instead, he watched Draco watch the scene in front of them. Hermione started the movements and, when she felt she was on the right track, she uttered the incantation.

A whoosh of air came from the wand and blew Theo's hair. Some papers nearby flew off the table, but other than that it seemed that nothing really happened. Hermione frowned, realizing something went wrong.

"Ah, that wasn't quite it…" Theo said, looking confused. "I don't know, you pronounced it right and everything. Maybe try it again, a little more emphasis and power behind the word."

"She's flicking her wrist too much at the end," Draco called, not realizing he had been paying that much attention to notice incorrect spell work.

Hermione froze. He had been watching the whole time. Blaise looked surprised by Draco's sudden decision to join in and put his book down in front of him.

"Pardon?" Theo asked. "That part looked fine."

"Yeah, maybe to you but from up here you can tell she's hitting the last flourish too harshly," Draco explained. He hopped down from the ledge.

Suddenly he was beside her. "Like this," he said, touching her wrist.

Hermione focused, ignoring the blush she was sure was reddening on her cheeks. Why was he suddenly interested in helping her do spell work?

He didn't look her in the eye but instead pulled her wrist several more times in a smoother, melodic way that felt much more comfortable. "Try it again," he said, releasing her hand gently.

Hermione blinked slightly confused. "Okay…" she said, and she raised the wand in front of her. She started the movements again, "Stupefy!"

The tip of the wand lit up and a decent force seemed to flow out of it towards Theo. When it hit him he stumbled backwards but stayed on his feet. It was not a full force stunning spell, but it was a start.

"That was better! That has definite potential to become a real stunning spell," Theo said, looking excited.

Draco didn't look back and instead went to climb back up to the window ledge. When he was about to pick up his book again Theo spoke. "Aye, you can't just fix something and not explain any reasoning behind it. I know her wand work could be off especially since that's Weasley's wand and it looks too short for her, but that was a completely different change from the way that spell is taught. What's with that?"

Draco sighed. "Once you learn wandless you have to adjust your spells with a wand because your magic is stronger, more fluid. She already taught herself wandless. She needs to adjust her wand work accordingly."

Ginny looked downright irritated. "Seriously? You couldn't have told us that hours ago when we started teaching her?" Draco chuckled, not realizing Ginny and Luna hadn't been taking this into account the whole time.

Luna chimed in in her usual, lofty voice. "But most wizards and witches learn wandless after rigid instrument instruction. How did you know to change the moves like that, wand work is very precise."

"I learned wandless first. My mum taught me when I first showed signs of magic," Draco stated. "It actually can be easier for children to learn than the complicated wand movements that accompany too many spells. With wandless, you just have to get better at understanding how to manipulate your own magic and then the movements become less important. It's being able to direct the magic the way you need it."

"Interesting," Luna said. "I wonder if there's been any studies on the best practices for teaching magic, wandless versus instrument use. Hm…" she looked lost in thought for a minute.

Hermione nodded, still thinking about what Malfoy said. He knew quite a bit more about magic than even her pureblooded friends in this room. Maybe if he wasn't so busy moping around, he'd be of some use to us, she joked to herself. That trick with her wrist felt so much more natural than the way Theo taught her.

Maybe this was another glimpse of the person he was hiding under all the old pureblood tradition. That tradition was slowly crumbling since they'd all figured everything out only yesterday. It seemed more and more that she was the one who could and would venture to shake those walls down.

When she looked over at him, his eyes held dark circles under them. His jaw was sharp and fine and his blonde hair was tossed aside his forehead in a sharp peak. She could tell he was uneasy from all he'd just talked about and did. Because for him, opening up was still tough. Talking about family was tough. She frowned.

He didn't look like the boy she'd slept next to many nights ago. The one who had been confident and comfortable and cradled her next to him more than once during the night. He slept soundly with her in his arms until the morning and when he'd finally released his grip was when the nightmare happened.

It was strange, how much he drew her in despite how bad she knew he was for her. His family, his background; he was evil. She was told this from the start yet again and again here she was, caring about him so much. Hermione sighed, frustrated. She didn't know what it would take to get to the real person underneath all his fake beliefs and old facades, but she kind of felt up for the challenge of finding out.

"Thanks for the help," she said genuinely, looking up at him. He rolled his eyes, like it really was a burden.

"It's nothing," he said curtly before flipping back through the pages to find his place. She interrupted him.

"No, it was more than nothing. Why'd you do it?" she asked.

"I don't know, okay," he insisted, "I love showing Theo up, that's all."

"I don't think that's the only reason," Theo said under his breath as he raised her eyebrows in disbelief to Hermione. Hermione scoffed.

"What?" Draco asked, realizing he'd missed something. He had been distracting himself from having to look at her by flipping through the book, but when she didn't respond he looked down at her.

"Oh nothing, Theo just thinks he's funny," she said in a snarky way that made Draco all the more curious. He glared from one to the other several times.

Hermione held the wand back up and Theo resumed his position in front of her. She wasn't about to venture further down that road, Theo making jokes about Draco still being interested in her. She was already entranced by him enough, she didn't need him reciprocating. She didn't know what she'd do if he did. She refused to look at him the rest of the day.

Draco, realizing he wasn't getting any more out of anybody, finally found the page he had been on. He continued reading as if nothing had happened. Theo continued helping Hermione, hoping to get her to a full Stupefy spell by the end of the afternoon. As she practiced, Hermione couldn't stop imaging Draco's hand on her wrist. It left an enchanting touch. For the rest of the afternoon, she could feel her magic just under her skin.

…

Draco's mind was still reeling when he left the library hours later. It was just before dinner and he decided a nap would do him some good. He wasn't getting very far in research anyway because he was too busy thinking about Granger and listening to her voice. She continued practicing with Theo and then with Luna until she'd grown tired and they'd both decided to stop for the day.

He had spent the afternoon flipping through pages of ancient runes relating to travel and transportation. But instead of actually paying attention to any of the signs, he had been thinking about how crazy this all was. He couldn't stop the endless questions over everything he'd done his whole life. It was all untrue. All of it.

He thought of how something as simple and wonderful as a girl had this big of an impact on him. On everything. How was it that people like his father and the death eaters and Voldemort actually believed muggleborns were so horrible for having magic, for thinking they stole it? It was clear when he watched Granger's skills the few times she'd used them that magic flowed in her veins.

In those moments she could do wandless quite comparable to his own. And he was good. It was a very valuable trait for someone coming into the magical world amidst a war. It was an admirable trait for a witch to have. He thought of his mother.

She had always said she feared he would never marry. That finding a girl to his liking who was as sharp and wicked and intelligent as himself seemed too arduous a task. And now, hundreds of miles away in hiding, in the middle of a remote muggle university, a muggle girl steps up to the plate. And what was he supposed to make of that?

Draco had gotten up then, using a nap as an excuse to be alone. When he got to his room he closed the door and dropped onto his bed face down. The silence surrounded him and the room was growing dim in the setting sun. Winter days never did last long and he felt the ache of the previous night's curses once again in his bones. He felt sleep pulling at him.

Granger truly was something else. He didn't know why it was such a big deal she had pulled him out of his nightmare and he didn't know why he suddenly felt like he owed her. Maybe it was because he knew what the death eaters would do to her if they caught her. He knew what they were capable of and just how much they disgusted her kind. And he saw how close of friends she already was with Weasley and Lovegood. The death eaters would show no mercy on her.

 _Hence why I shouldn't even befriend her. What if that friendship ends up becoming more…_ he thought, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. _She is attractive after all. That hasn't changed._ And he had a hard time staying away from girls he found attractive.

But getting close to her in any sense would be a mistake. There was no question they'd get caught eventually and it was probably going to be by the death eaters. He was trying to reason with himself. He'd be tortured and ridiculed even more than he already was going to be. It was just a dangerous situation all around.

 _They'd torture her…_ he thought of the Cruciatius from the night before. She had no idea what that felt like. He pushed the evil thoughts away. Sleep was starting to take over his body. _Yikes. I've got to stay away from her. Granger. Her…_

She was his last thought before he drifted off completely, finally falling into a restful sleep.

…

Luna and Blaise went downstairs an hour later to get dinner started. It was odd, the way they became comfortable with one another so quickly. Ginny didn't like to act like she was, constantly using sarcasm to remind Theo of shitty times Harry or Ron or anyone really had insulted them.

She went to her room to grab a sweater, Blaise having informed her that the guest rooms should have extra clothes in them. It was a trick of a Malfoy home that was utterly convenient when they'd been on the run. Hermione wanted to finish up the chapter she was on before coming down and promised to meet them in a few minutes.

When everyone had filed out of the library, Hermione sighed in the comfort of books being the only things about her. She finished up the chapter in a matter of minutes and closed the book, setting it on the table. She sat still for a few moments, wondering where Malfoy had gone off to.

She looked to the dark windows, the sky was as black as the ink on Malfoy's arm. She remembered the red lines that accompanied the tattoo. The ones he'd inflicted on himself. He had gone to his room some time ago and no one had heard from him since. She couldn't just assume he was fine. She had to do something.

Sighing nervously searching for some courage, she got up. She walked to the door and into the hall, heading for his room.

…

Approaching his bedroom door, she saw it was closed. She wondered if it were locked, could she do a spell to unlock it? She held her breath as she put her hand on the doorknob and tried it. It opened easily and she pushed the heavy wood just enough so she could peer in.

A body was curled up under the heavy comforter and she could just see his hair sticking out by the pillows. She wondered if she dare wake him. His unpredictability had her second guessing herself and she hovered at the door until suddenly, the quietness was interrupted by a snore.

Hermione was thrown off by its almost cuteness. Whenever she'd seen Malfoy sleeping before, he was snarling and aggressive, distraught from all the nightmares. But this didn't seem like a nightmare; it was comical and so unlike him in the most unconventional way. When he made the noise again she couldn't stop a giggle escaping her lips.

In a second her hand was on her mouth realizing what she'd done. At the noise, Malfoy moaned and rolled over. He didn't appear to be awake yet. She sighed in relief, noticing how much more relaxed he looked. She wondered when the last time he'd had a good night's sleep was.

It didn't appear like he was hurting himself and he wasn't even having dreams. That was a good sign at least. She figured she better not wake him if he needed the sleep and that she'd bring him up some dinner later. Making up her mind, she stole one last look at the bed.

His blonde hair was messy and his mouth was open. He looked so much younger this way. So much less worn down. She smiled before shutting the door behind her.

Draco tossed over at the sound; thoughts of Granger seemed to keep the nightmares far away and he was more than grateful.

…

Draco didn't flinch at the touch that was trying to shake him awake. For the first time in a while he'd slept soundly and, as much as he didn't want to get up, he figured it had to be something important.

He was utterly surprised to turn and see Granger, standing awkwardly beside his bed with her hand on his shoulder. She removed it quickly looking just as surprised when he stared back at her curiously; he finally looked well rested and the gentleness it placed on his face was new. Almost lovely.

"Why is it always you," he muttered and put his head back on the pillow. He had just spent the last few hours with her on his mind, he hadn't expected to be confronted with her so soon. She was sure making it difficult for him to keep his distance.

Hermione pouted. "Fine, you're welcome for the dinner then," she said, acting hurt. She made like she were leaving but didn't actually go to the door. She paused at the end of his bed, curious to see if he'd go for the food, her real motive for coming up here.

He was strong but leaner than he probably should be; she figured meals were just as unpredictable as good sleep for him. His mental state was uneasy to say in the least and it wasn't allowing him time to take care of himself.

"Did Blaise tell you to bring me this?" Draco said when the smell of food made his mouth start to water. He sat up as she turned. She was at the foot of his bed, looking tired and worried and curious all at once.

The meal sat on the side table, steam still rising from it. He blinked bright gray eyes at her and their mildness made her breath catch in her throat. Getting sleep seriously did wonders for him; or he was just starting to not care as much about her blood status. He didn't scowl at her like he had the night before. She hoped it was a little of both.

"No, Blaise didn't put me up to it, why would he? I was just trying to be nice," she stated, crossing her arms.

"You know, you can't wish away my blood purity just by being nice," Draco countered. It sounded harsher now that he said it out loud, but it was true. He didn't want her hanging around him, he still had conflicting thoughts about her. Her hair fell in nice curls down her shoulders, he had to look away.

Hermione shrugged, causing her sweater to fall over her collarbone. Draco gulped unexpectedly. "I know I can't change your past. But it's not like being nice is a sin. Why do you always have to fight people?" she asked seriously.

Every time she twisted their conversations into the difficult questions he avoided asking himself. He hated it, embarrassed to finally be called out on how his defense was lashing out. His father's lessons taught him there was power in aggression and action. Merlin that was messed up.

"My father believed violence was always the right means to an ends. And he showed me that was the best way to get the things you wanted." He paused, thinking of how tragic that sounded.

Hermione blinked, the honesty sending chills down her spine. "I'm sorry," she managed, daring to look at him. He met her gaze with the same calm eyes he did before.

"You don't need to be," he said too easily. He was so used to blaming himself at this point. It was getting old holding up the walls he built around himself. He sighed. "My mother used to say words and looks could have more power than spells. Maybe she's right." Hearing the tragedy out loud made it ten times worst knowing he had lived it…

Hermione didn't answer right away, letting his words soak in. Where was all this coming from? She wondered. Why is he opening up to me? It was like the combined energy of all the years of dark family tradition had been bottled up too long and it was waning on him. And it was like she was sitting here shaking the bottle. _Well, if talking about the past finally makes him realize how he has the ability to change, then I won't stop him._

"Maybe she is right." Hermione looked into his eyes, "You can manipulate and damage with words. Both of us have been unkind to each other on more than one occasion."

While the jab was meant to hurt his pride, it enlivened it instead. Draco gave a small smirk. "But we've also had conversations far exceeding both of our expectations. I've caught your attention more than you'd like to admit and that my mother would be proud of."

Hermione wondered if just mentioning being able to speak well turned on his charming voice and his sly smile. She looked away blushing and his smile grew bigger realizing he'd tricked her. Oh, two could play this game, she thought.

"Snatching up someone's interest is the art of proper wordplay, I'd be fickle not to fall for some of yours," she batted her eyelashes and looked at him with a look of longing. He stared interestedly, paying much more attention to her than before.

"However, I'm allowed to pay attention to your not so subtle flirtations or I can choose to ignore them. It's usually the latter," she cooed with a laugh. Draco sat back, his face suddenly annoyed.

"Maybe your mum wouldn't be too proud aye?" she smiled vindictively. "Because I can get you just as good, or you know, the whole muggle-born thing," Hermione mentioned, realizing the bigger problem in the hypothetical situation. She laughed before turning on her heel for the door.

The more she stared at the white blonde of his hair and his bare arms, the more she was finding it hard to not want to stay. "Please eat," she said with a smile and she turned down the hall, disappearing from sight.

…


	16. Chapter 16

_"My Lord, you asked for me?" Bellatrix said, her voice sickeningly sweet as she rushed into the study of Malfoy Manor. Lord Voldemort sat in a giant armchair facing the fire that roared in the white marble hearth. As the shadows danced across his gaunt face, he spoke._

 _"Yes my dear. What news do you have of Greyback? I thought he said he had picked up a scent of a Weasley some time back. Now we've gotten nothing. I want to find Potter's little band of heroes and heroines before they have time to really cause damage," he said in a low, shrill voice that to anyone else would have made them cower. But Bellatrix just stood in awe as she knelt down beside him, a faint smirk ready to pop onto her lips._

 _When she tried to grab his hand, he pulled back. "Oh, yes my Lord," she cast her eyes down in embarrassment. "He does have a scent, he says so at least. I still don't fully trust the half-breed, but he insists it's that little Weasley bitch, yes," she practically sang at him._

 _"And what has he found? Anything?" the Dark Lord drawled, growing impatient of Bellatrix's little games. It was most likely Greyback hadn't even bothered to contact her or was lying. And he wonders why he has no mark, Voldemort thought to himself._

 _"Oh, no not yet my Dark King, but one of the death eaters with him sent a Patronus just this morning to the Manor. It was from Boltar. His fucking swordfish nearly skewered me it came in so fast! I was interrogating that little twit goblin we found yesterday, you remember, the one that was telling people in Knockturn Alley that Draco was out whoring with muggles on some island in the Caribbean. Couldn't let that little shit get away with defiling my nephew like that," she went on as if her Lord actually cared about her day. At the moment, he appeared unnaturally bored and ready to smack her._

" _Anyway, that bloody fish spat out some garbage about the scent getting stronger, that they felt they were getting somewhere. I mapped the area for you, found some places where a disgusting amount of muggles are likely to be. Might be the blood traitor bitch and Xeno's little slut daughter are hiding in plain view somewhere. I sent the locations along, hoping he'll find them soon," she explained. She gave a crooked smile that was full of hope that the answer she provided would be good._

 _Lord Voldemort nodded, his demeanor unchanging. "Good. And these locations… they have any trace of magic about them or?"_

 _"Why yes, my Lord. A few have traces of old magic about them, and one was known to have some mudbloods scoping it as a hiding place. Mulciber told me about it last week. It's near them, a summer camp on a lake. And then there's this university, bigger than Hogwarts. Said to have been infiltrated back in the days of the Cold Nights, Rowena Ravenclaw herself helping to ease tension between magic and non-magic," Bellatrix didn't sound at all happy to find that piece of information out but she didn't go on._

 _Voldemort took some time before deciding if what she told him was reason to be in a good mood. Finally, he turned to her. "Thank you Bellatrix. Good work. Getting Potter's little girlfriend in our hands is just the thing we need to lure him out of hiding too. You best truly be onto something here."_

 _"Why certainly my Lord, I'd do anything for you, you know that," she said, tentatively reaching for his hand again. He let her grovel at it this time and she looked practically overjoyed._

 _"Oh I know that all too well," he hinted. "Greyback best not be wrong or he will hear from me, you make sure your little pet knows that."_

" _Yes. Oh yes. I'd be happy to punish him anyway my Lord, to make sure he's not lying, that fucking dog. Anything. Just say the word, I'll apparate there, I'll-" Bellatrix was rambling on but Voldemort cut her off._

" _No. I intend to have you right here," he said in a sinister voice that to Bellatrix sounded practically seductive. She smiled coyly, lust hanging in her dark brown eyes…_

"GINNY!" Harry shouted, startled awake by the fierceness of his dream. He was inside Voldemort's mind again and it was not pretty. Was Fenrir Greyback actually hunting down Ginny?! Did he actually have her scent? It had been months since they'd seen each other and he didn't even know where she was. She could be anywhere and how was he to protect her if he had no clue where she was!

"What the bloody hell, Harry!" said Ron in a voice still flooded with sleep. He rolled over to look down below at the bottom bunk where his best friend had been sleeping.

"I… it was another bad dream. About You-Know-Who and, and," Harry was gasping to make sense of what he saw. He was soaked from sweat and his glasses were on the side table so his vision was blurry. "And he mentioned Ginny and-"

"Shit," Ron grumbled. "Shit, shit, shit," he said, stumbling down the latter. "Come on, I'll make some tea. You need it," and he disappeared into the next room, leaving Harry with his rambling thoughts.

…

In a cramped little apartment six streets away from the Malfoy Townhouse, Luna and Ginny busied themselves with packing as Tuesday gave way to midday sun. Agreeing that it was best if all the witches and wizards stayed together, in order to keep an eye on each other and for Hermione to learn magic, the girls were going to move their stuff to the Townhouse, despite Ginny's frequent adamant protests.

Yet the little apartment Luna and Ginny had shared could not be more cluttered. Ginny was notorious for being messy and the place looked littered with all her stuff. Gryffindor clothes, pieces of parchment, quills, a cauldron, and several pieces of what looked like chewing gum lay strewn across her bed. Scattered on the floor were her regular clothes and a few books for class that looked like they'd never been touched. Next to these were the study guides Hermione had helped her with earlier this month.

Luna was using an extendable charm on her backpack as well as Ginny's in order for them to pack as much stuff as necessary to live over with the boys. Hermione, who was supposed to be helping, kept finding herself distracted as she went through the giant trunk at the foot of Luna's bed.

"What's this?" she said for the seventh time, as she held up yet another magical object. Ginny looked up from under her bed, where she had just pulled out a racing broom, whose bristles were half broken. She swore at it before answering.

"That's a sneakoscope. It spins fast when enemies are near, or at least it's supposed to," she said, eying the half bent sneakoscope in Hermione's hand.

"Okay…" Hermione said, putting it back. She was reaching the bottom and all that seemed to be left were some old coins and a broken quill.

"How much is left in there Hermione? I need to start packing my clothes up," Luna asked, not looking over from her closet.

"Not much, I'm at the bottom. There's just some old coins and this broken quill," she said, gathering up the last of it. She sat down on Luna's bed then, flipping over a few of the coins in her hand. _Wizarding money,_ she thought happily. _How cool, I haven't even thought about their currency system!_

They all appeared to be the same round bronze coins, she noticed, not much unlike regular coins she'd seen around the world, except for the one. The edge where all the rest had numerals appeared to be blank. She wondered if it were just worn down from overuse. A tiny lightning bolt was just visible near the edge on the backside.

When Luna looked over at Hermione, she smiled. "Ah, wizard money. Pretty neat huh?" Luna walked over, holding a change purse ready for Hermione to dump the lot in when instead, she realized the coin Hermione was examining. Her gasp startled both Ginny and Hermione, who almost dropped the coins. "What?!" she asked, frantic. "I'm not going to steal your money, I promise!"

"No silly!" Luna laughed, "you just made my day! The coins, give them here! I know how we are going to communicate with the Order now!" Luna squealed. She snagged the odd coin from Hermione's hand and held it up for Ginny to see.

"What? That's just a galleon Luna. What are you going to do, call the Knight Bus or something?" Ginny scoffed, seeing the coin in Luna's hand.

"This isn't just any coin Gin," Luna said, smiling way too wide and tossing it to her. "It's a-"

But Ginny cut her off when she caught it and saw the lack of markings. A look of shock came to her as she realized what it was. "Merlin's sagging trousers!" she yelled. "Get out. A fucking D.A. coin! Oh my Merlin! This is fucking priceless Luna! Priceless!"

"Um, no offense but, how is a coin supposed to help us get in touch with the Order?" Hermione questioned, utterly lost.

"Oh, just you wait til she explains how brilliant she was back in fifth year," Ginny grinned, putting an arm around Hermione. "It's going to blow your fucking mind, this coin isn't just any coin. It's magic Hermione, _magic._ "

…

Hermione stood in front of the sofa, listening to the fire roar while trying to pay attention to Blaise. It was Wednesday night and Blaise was an awful teacher. Ginny had been watching the whole ordeal and snickering into her hands every time Blaise tried to correct something that Hermione felt was perfectly fine. By the fire sat Theo, a glass of fire whiskey in his hand as he flipped through a runes book absentmindedly.

Hermione looked ready to murder Blaise the fifth time he was holding her elbow up higher when Draco came slowly down the stairs. While he still looked tired with the bags of purple under his eyes, the smallest of smiles hung on his mouth and it just annoyed her. He walked over towards the fire, nodding to Theo.

"Hello? Are you listening?" Blaise was saying as Hermione turned her back to him with a huff.

She was already rolling her eyes at Ginny in exasperation. "Yes," she said curtly. "I've been listening this whole fucking time, thank you very much."

Ginny laughed again. Malfoy looked to Theo out of curiosity at what was going on; Theo merely chuckled. Hermione glared at them fiercely, as if to dare them to say something. Theo looked away, Malfoy smirked. She huffed and turned back to Blaise. Draco walked around, taking up one of the arm chairs.

His gaze stayed fixed on Granger, even though she was clearly attempting to ignore his presence. Ever since their little encounter a few nights ago and the mention of blood purity and niceties once again, the two hadn't talked all that much.

Yet he'd fixed her wand work that one day and he had been constantly thinking about blood status and his mother's opinions and why the hell it even mattered if Granger was this good at magic in the first place. Hermione seemed indifferent to him despite how much she had shown interest before and it sort of bugged him more than he wanted it to.

Hermione on the other hand, just had to be the type who chose to see the good in everyone. It was in her nature, despite all the things Ginny and Luna told her about the death eaters and the Slytherins at school bullying classmates left and right. And as much as she didn't want to like Malfoy, she kept finding herself in his midst at the most intimate times finding out more about the person behind the brooding looks and vicious remarks. That was something.

She could tell every time he was in her presence that he paid her more attention now. And she couldn't deny that she sort of liked it. But she wasn't the type to just throw herself at someone the minute they showed a little interest; that was foolish and a terrible trait for women to have, chasing boys who only liked to look at them and then trying to repair the boys like they were some sort of broken object. Yet she couldn't deny the dreams she'd been having of late; the ones all taking place in the lush green bedroom right down the hall from her own. Something told her there might be something worth while there…

She was lost for a second in her most current dream, a blush rising to her cheeks as she chose not to listen to Blaise drone on and on about incantations and proper wand positions once again. If Blaise wanted to lecture this much, she would have sat down and took notes instead of trying to even do the spell work.

"I'm trying to help okay," Blaise stated, irritation in his voice. "I'd appreciate less attitude. You're not even trying to keep your arms in position, I just don't see how you expect to get better-"

"Ugh! That's it! I'm done, you just keep hounding me but moving my arm has done jack shit!" she said loudly. She tossed Ginny's wand on the coffee table and dropped into an armchair.

While magic like charming objects to do what she'd like or a twist of her finger to change her hairstyle came easy even without a wand, it was the more rigid, school-like spellwork that was proving to be the real challenge. That and the want work. She hated that she couldn't master defense as easily as getting her coffee to soar across the room to her without having to look up from her book. She huffed in indignation.

Blaise looked livid but as he was about to yell again Malfoy's voice cut the anger in the room instead. "You know, she has a point," Draco mentioned.

"What?" Blaise spat, whipping around to face him.

"She has a point, changing her arm position is doing nothing," Draco told him like it was obvious to anyone. Ginny watched, scrutinizing Malfoy's current cordial words that were a bizarre change from his normal banter.

"Oh really, is that it? If you're such an expert why don't you show her then?" Blaise baited with a bitter twist to each word.

Draco shrugged. "She's actually got to relax more. The tension in her arm is what's stopping the spell from generating. Plus, that wand is shit for her."

"What tension?" Hermione asked, anger still in her voice. She didn't think her grip on the wand was that tight and her frustration with Blaise transitioned right over to Malfoy without faltering. She disregarded the reverie that had previously come to mind to combat Blaise's yelling.

"Hey! That's my wand!" Ginny interrupted. "It's not shit, its great!"

"Yeah, for you Weasley, but Granger can't even hold the thing well," Draco laughed. Ginny snatched it off the table and held it close, like any second Malfoy might try to take it and snap it in two.

"Why are you suddenly interested in Granger learning magic?" Blaise changed the subject and Draco shot him a dirty look.

"I'm not suddenly interested, I'm just pointing out the flaws in _your_ teaching," he said bitterly, avoiding any real answer.

"Um Ginny and Luna told me about wandlore, but why would it matter what wand I use if I have magic? Because I clearly do," Hermione stated, making it a point to make that clear.

"Wandlore is tricky," Theo spoke up. "Wands can be made from several different kinds of wood. Different personalities work better with certain kinds. Then there's the cores. They dictate how easily magic is conducted through em," he explained. "Us Slytherins got ones that are sturdy, easily subjected to emotional change." He rolled his eyes with a smile, as if she didn't know that would be a necessity for the three Slytherins currently in her presence. Yet it was interesting how much emotion could play a role; she'd never considered that before.

"Mine's phoenix feather and yew, I like it a lot," Ginny said, a bit of reluctance in her voice. "Good for emotions of all kinds Ollivander told me!"

"As you should," Malfoy said and Ginny's brow wrinkled at him agreeing with her. "It's a pliable wood and phoenix feather is easy for gryffindors and hufflepuffs. It just clearly isn't working well for Granger. She probably needs something stronger…" Malfoy looked as though he were thinking about which would be best.

"Why do you know so much about wandlore? I don't recall learning any of that at Hogwarts," Ginny asked, interested in the whole background Malfoy just gave.

Malfoy, Blaise, and Theo rolled their eyes practically in unison but it was Blaise who spoke.

"We did quite a bit of research on wandlore for You-Know-Who. He's bat shit, that much I believe. Wanted to know all about cores and woods and everything. Hard to forget. What's Lovegood's like, can we borrow hers?" Blaise asked, looking to Ginny.

"Um, I think it's acacia, but I don't know the core," Ginny said.

"Acacia is going to be too difficult," Draco stated after Ginny had gotten up. She was on her way to the study, where Luna had been looking for a book about repairing magical charms. Apparently the spell she had placed on the coins years ago had warped into something of a half-spell. No communication was going to happen if she couldn't figure out a way to reconnect the portals.

"And why's that?" Hermione asked, looking Malfoy in the eyes. It took Draco a moment before he could answer. He was struck by her sudden interest in him. _No, not me,_ he corrected himself. _She's interested in the wands._

"It's for particularly gifted witches and wizards, acacia," he explained, "doesn't like to yield to non-owners."

"Pft, how do you know I'm not gifted?" she said before she could stop herself. Blaise tried to hide his chuckle. She smiled a fake, haughty smile at him, which curled Malfoy's lip up just a bit.

"Merlin calm down, you probably are. Fucking teacher's pet here at this muggle uni," said Draco seriously. She turned back to him as he continued. "But it still doesn't change the whole unyielding thing. You need like, oak or cherry or hawthorn or something, those are known for their ease."

Hermione crossed her arms and glared at him for the teacher's pet insult. He gave a smirk and she looked away, trying to keep her face straight. She didn't like it that he was pointing out her cleverness, even if it wasn't in so many words. Draco just liked the attention.

In a minute Ginny was back in the room with Luna in tow. "I don't think it'll work I mean, Mr. Ollivander told me acacia is really tricky," Luna frowned when she saw Hermione looking frustrated.

"What kind of core do you have?" Theo asked when Luna sat down. "Just curious."

"Nargle scale," she said with a small smile. Blaise and Draco exchanged a look of disbelief.

"Uh, what?" Hermione asked, confused. It had been quite the shock the first time Ginny and Luna explained that dragons and unicorns did in fact exist to be able to give their heartstrings and tail hairs for cores, but now this was a totally different kind of creature all together. The magical world was just too incredible.

"Not real," Theo coughed and looked around at the boys like he didn't do anything. They snickered.

Luna sighed. "They a _re_ real and their scales make excellent cores for charming. They're a magical creature that flies around your brain and makes your thoughts fuzzy. They live in mistletoe and are very elusive. Most wand makers don't use their scales because it hurts the animal to remove them. Mr. Ollivander told me they only use scales that have fallen off," she explained.

"Alright, Drake give her yours then, we know you don't use it much," Blaise stated and Hermione's and Ginny's eyes grew wide. Draco looked suddenly nervous.

"Uh, why don't we just teach her wandless, it'll probably be easier for her," Draco suggested instead. The truth was, he wasn't sure his would work for her at all. It was made special for his family and with her being muggle-born…. He wasn't sure what would happen. What if it was rigged to backfire or something? He could just see it now… his nightmares hadn't been much better and the images of all the torture made a shiver go down his back.

Hermione looked confused. "Is wandless a real alternative? Because honestly I hate these stupid pieces of wood, I don't know how you guys do it," she looked him in the eye to see if he was lying. He stared back and gave a shrug.

"I mean, yeah. It's possible. You already do quite a bit of it," he said. Under the nervousness that was evident in his voice, Hermione could feel his honesty.

"Plus, in a war when we don't have access to Ollivander to even get you a wand, wandless is sounding better and better," Theo realized.

"Yeah, but are you going to be the one to step up and teach her then Drake?" Blaise cut in, and Draco turned scarlet. "You know I'm not too good at it and Theo can only do some simple spells. Don't know about Weasley and Lovegood here, but I've never seen any from either of them."

Draco hadn't realized the implications of his recommendation. He was the one really good at wandless… but was he ready to get up close and personal with Granger again? Admiring her from afar and saying a few sarcastic jests was one thing, teaching her was going to be something completely different.  
"Uh, well…" Malfoy seemed at a loss for words. Hermione looked weary at Blaise's suggestion.

"Well, either that or hand your wand over. Its hawthorn isn't it? That's pretty strong and she could give it a go, I don't remember what your core is," Blaise was saying. Draco looked slightly nervous.

The silence in the room had gathered quickly in anticipation at what should be done. Luna and Blaise were looking at Malfoy with provocation in their eyes and Theo gave him the smallest of smirks. It was enough to get under his skin.

Finally Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll help with the wandless but she can still try Theo's or something. My wand is a Malfoy heirloom, better not have the muggle-born toy with it," he stated reluctantly, yet his voice had a bit of sharpness in it at the end that he hadn't intended. Hermione looked suspicious.

"Ha!" Theo snorted. "What, she going to give it a swish and end up without her hand?" A swift look of shock came across Hermione's face at his words.

"You better be fucking joking Theo," she said crossing her arms again.

"I mean, I don't know, possibly…" Draco's response was quiet and irritation hung on all the words. "Can't trust Malfoy shit one way or another…"

"Especially when it comes to her kind," Theo was too casual.

Hermione scrutinized every word. "Hello. I'm right fucking here _Theo._ "

"Whoops, sorry Hermione. Really," Theo started. "I just mean, if you ended up in their house I doubt there was a thing you could touch without fear of getting severely injured or cursed or something," he said seriously. "Come to think of it, the wards probably wouldn't even let you in. I'm surprised you can come into this place actually."

"I adjusted the wards for all of them," Draco said stiffly. "Made sure there wasn't a pureblood restriction or some shit. Leave it my dad to do that."

Hermione rolled her eyes again, not believing that this kind of racist shit was so deeply imbedded in their lives. It was like time had turned backward and she were in the midst of the civil rights movement or World War II Germany.

"How come everything in your lives revolves around blood status, God, how barbaric!" Hermione said annoyed. She got up and headed for her room, her gait determined.

"What? Hermione! Where are you going?" Ginny called, hopping up.

"I mean, not everything revolves around-" Theo started, but Blaise cut him off with a shake of his head.

"Well…" Luna said quietly.

"Come off it, practically everything in our lives has always been about blood purity," Blaise scoffed. "Who's got it, who doesn't, who should practice magic, who should come to our birthday parties, who should we be friends with, who we should date," he rambled off the list easily. "We could keep going even in our sleep Theo."

Draco stayed quiet. The truth of it stung the air and made him frown. How had it been so easy to just obey his parents' wishes then? Their wishes that aligned with so much purity shit that, now he was here and had spent way too much time amongst muggles and without death eaters, he didn't even see the point in upholding because it only annoyed him. It restricted him and his friends seemed much happier without the darkness the death eaters put on all of them. Maybe there was something in all Granger kept saying to them…

Ginny had made it halfway up the stairs before Hermione practically knocked into her as she came back down, a large textbook clutched in her hands. When she was back in the living room she set it down on the table and flipped through it until she got to the page she wanted. It was a world history textbook and the page she opened showed a picture of a water fountain. The word "whites" was painted above it and next to it, a smaller fountain with the words "colored" painted above. Ginny blinked, somewhat confused. Blaise sighed as Theo drew closer. Draco stayed where he was in his arm chair, quiet.

"Muggles have had their fair share of 'purity' attempts too alright, and let me tell you they haven't been pretty and they haven't worked," Hermione stated vehemently. She read the caption that accompanied the picture out loud. The others sat in silence, sort of shell-shocked.

"Perhaps in our efforts to understand our own problems we've failed to see what examples already exist," said Luna. "When I went to muggle school, I remember learning this stuff so I know why you are so passionate to show us this Hermione. Our own society is mirroring that of Germany and America from years past. Voldemort is repeating a vicious and dangerous thing. It might do well for you four to read up on those events, see what a war based in hate and discrimination actually entails," Luna said seriously to the three boys and Ginny.

Ginny was looking down, somewhat ashamed that she hadn't heard of much of these problems before. But she nodded at Luna's request.

"They… they had separate water fountains just for African Americans?" Theo said, confused.

"Yes. They believed they were not worthy to drink out of the same place as a white person. They believed African Americans were an inferior race," Hermione said. "Separate fountains. Separate bathrooms. Separate schools and neighborhoods."

The boys looked solemn, Blaise uncomfortable. "Can I look at this please?" Theo asked, the politeness an honest effort to show he was realizing how terrible this was.

"Of course. I'll leave it here and tomorrow I can go to my apartment and the library on campus, grab a few others you all might want to look at," she said. "It's like Luna said, this part of history unfortunately exists. Knowing about it gives us insight so that we may never repeat it. And since it looks like it's repeating with the wizarding world…"

"It most certainly is…" Luna said sadly. "It'll be smart to have you read it." And with that, Luna headed back into the study. Ginny got up and followed her, too edgy to sit.

Theo sat, the history textbook open in his lap, his eyes looking terribly distraught as he read the pages. Hermione sat back in her seat on the couch, not looking at Malfoy. She didn't want to know if he was glaring, not wanting to read even a speck of muggle history. He of all people needed to, but she couldn't be certain he'd be as receptive as his friends yet.

Instead, Hermione reached for two dragon figurines that sat on the side table. They were obsidian and had gemstones for eyes. She held out her hand, thinking about the simple levitating charm they'd already taught her. She moved her hand slowly, swirling her fingertips around the dragons as one by one they began to float in front of her. Their scales sparkled against the firelight.

Draco watched her mesmerized and with a look of worry on his face. He remembered his father talking about some great leader from Germany doing well in his efforts to make their society better. His father had called this man a genius. Draco shuttered.

Granger and Lovegood obviously knew better; did his father even know this guy was a muggle? He sighed, realizing something terrible in the muggle world had to be at least tantamount to some of the shit he had seen the death eaters working on. He'd make it a point to read up on it all, even if it made him sick to his stomach and reminded him of home.

He stared at Granger's fingers as they slowly looped and spun, making the dragons dance in air. Blaise stared at the fire, pouring himself a glass of fire whiskey from the bottle on the mantle. Theo was still lost in the book.

Hermione's mouth was a thin line, her jaw set tight. She was thinking about how these boys just fell victim to such terrible ways so easily. Family ties were deep and consuming and she hoped they would be able to shake them.

When she looked up, she was surprised to see Malfoy looking at her. He had a sad sort of frown and his eyes were stormy. She wondered if he were thinking about his family or the history he didn't know or both.

"Not bad," he mumbled, referring to the dragons. "You can move them independently of each other, if you concentrate. Relax your shoulders, bring your magic to the surface through your calmness."

"Uh, okay…" she said in a timid voice. She tried to concentrate on the one with blue gems in its eyes but in the process the emerald eyed one fell into her lap.

"Focus your magic so both are floating. Then, maintain control while feeling just the magic in your left hand take one," he suggested. "Fluid but precise movements work best. You need to be sure of yourself."

This last piece of advice seemed odd when she remembered how shook up Malfoy was of late. Being sure of himself was something Malfoy never seemed to lack until recently, but she guessed he knew what he was talking about. She nodded and picked them up anyway.

She wanted to trust he was giving her good instruction and she didn't quite know what motivated him. When she tossed them in the air, she held her palm under them so they floated. She concentrated again on the blue one, trying to just give enough magic to get it moving. It started circling her head while the green one stayed in front of her. She smiled shyly.

"Keep going," Malfoy said, keeping his voice even.

"Okay," she said again, looking back at the figurines. She kept the blue one going, but now it was time to focus on the green one. It shuttered a bit before taking a swan dive towards the table. At the last second, it spun and soared back over to her and she looked pleased.

"Not bad. Just remember to be sure of yourself. Goes a long way," Malfoy said. She let them float around her a while longer.

It was then Draco waved a hand and the figurines transformed right before Hermione's eyes. Instead of solid statues they now moved like miniature, real dragons, beating their wings with gemmed claws that stretched and grasped.

The shock of it surprised her and the dragons fell suddenly to her lap. The green one snarled at her for taking it out of flight. The blue one looked as confused as Hermione, who blinked at Malfoy.

"What? They're no fun when they're just figurines," he chuckled. "Enjoy." And with that, he got up and headed towards the stairs.

"Hey," she called before he started up them. When he turned, he looked almost hopeful at what she had to say. "You should read that after Theo. Please."

He heaved a sigh and nodded, "I already plan to."

And with that, he took the stairs two at a time. She listened to the sound of his bedroom door shut. She sat there, dragons in her lap. The green one looked at her and sort of smirked, very reminiscent of the boy that just left her. She couldn't deny the bit of a smile that found its way to her own features.

…

Thursday night came rumbling through the town in clouds and rain. Huge, icy sheets fell upon the house and the new found group of slytherins and gryffindors hung together in the living room, trying to stay warm by the fire.

While at first it angered Blaise to find out that was how the D.A. communicated all this time, he couldn't lie it was amazingly smart of Luna to come up with. He agreed to help shortly after. Luna and Theo and Blaise were all reading, having picked some books from the hidden library on campus to try and find a way to repair the coins.

All day Draco had spent teaching Hermione magic. It was sort of awkward for both of them, in the presence of everyone. Neither knew how to act and it made it all the more tense and tiresome. Hermione was making much more progress than with anyone else and it was evident in the amount of spells Malfoy had already showed and covered with her.

Yet Hermione grew impatient despite how well Malfoy explained and taught, Malfoy's snarky comments becoming too much. The pair soon stopped by mid-afternoon. Neither wanted to push the little bit of this sort of friendship they'd managed much further. At least not yet.

So Hermione decided to spend time helping Luna instead, her magic run ragged with all the progress Malfoy had made anyway. But even reading was growing tedious. When dinnertime rolled around, Luna and Ginny decided to call it quits and Hermione stayed, watching the two tiny dragons Malfoy had transfigured from the statues the other night. They flew around the room, letting Hermione try out spells on them until the sun sank behind the hills and darkness overtook the library.

It was then that she realized the time on the clock. She gave one last pet to the blue dragon before getting up and heading to the door. She snuck down the hall for the study, hoping to catch a glimpse of Occlumency practice. This was the third time Hermione was spying, hoping to catch them in the act of real, advanced magic.

She knew it were a risky move, trying to watch them, because she had questioned Ginny all about the practice and knew why they chose to do it behind closed doors. All the memories coming to the surface could really ignite tension that was for sure. But she couldn't stop her curiosity.

This particular night, Malfoy appeared much angrier than normal. While it was typical of him getting all riled up, this time Hermione watched as he threw several things from the desk into the fire. His hands were in his hair in his frustration and when Theo tried to place a hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off quite violently.

"Fucking muggles. All this blood purity shit has me up a fucking wall," he growled. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it but Theo persisted.

"Come on mate, it's in the past. You aren't like that anymore."

"I'm not? How do you know? The minute I get back in the hands of my father I'm going to end up back where I was! I just know it! How can I even attempt to stop them?"

"It won't be like that mate, it just won't," Theo tried, but Draco was having none of it.

"Yeah well, you didn't have to take this ugly fucking mark on your arm. And you weren't threatened to have the poison you were brewing used on you," he yelled. "My dad, father of the fucking year! What a charm, having your son's thirteenth birthday mark the fucking year he gets to try his first unforgiveable! If he only knew we have the fucking best friend and girlfriend of the boy who fucking lived right in our house and we haven't touched them, he'd be livid."

"Hey now, I thought we've been getting along fine with them, none of that shit talk. Now you are starting to sound like a maniac," Theo warned. He rather liked their new acquaintances. Friends even.

"Yeah well, them and that fucking muggle are making me crazy! Can't go into a room without feeling like I'm going to be cursed the minute some death eater shows up and sees me talking to her, for fuck's sake!" Draco screamed, ready to pull his hair out.

"And last week was the last time I heard you call her a mudblood," Theo mentioned quietly. "Calm down Draco. This is the memory talking, not you. You're better than this. You really are, you can be."

Hermione's eyes had grew wide at all the rage bubbling to the surface. "Fuck this! Fuck muggles, fuck my dad! Fuck it all!" he yelled. The next thing she knew, Malfoy had grabbed the vase from off the mantle and hurled it against the wall right by the door. Wide eyed, she crept back, feeling guilty.

It was then that she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her practically jump. When she turned, it was Blaise, with a finger over his lips for her to stay quiet. He pulled her down the hall and to the stairs.

…

Once down the stairs, Blaise turned back to her. "That's a dangerous place to venture Hermione," he said. "They can get into some nasty memories that you really don't want to see. Draco especially."

She sighed. "Why is it so hard for him to let this all go?" it was more rhetorical, in her frustration to understand the boy that seemed to be two different people; the one who had decided to teach her magic and the prejudiced arse. While she wanted to be angry at him, yelling about her like that, she felt like she should believe Theo. The memory was making him all angry and messed up.

"Hermione," Blaise said, leading her into the living room. "You have to understand, he was raised much differently than you can ever imagine. His family is crazy and viciously loyal. Their beliefs are so backward and ingrained in him that I'm afraid he's lost further than he even knows."

By the firelight of the living room, Hermione spied Luna and Ginny as they entered. The girls were enjoying some wine and both looked up when the two came in. "What's up Hermione? Bored reading finally?" Ginny said lightly, before realizing the tension in Hermione's jaw and the frown on her lips.

"Yes…that and… well I, I was trying to spy on those Occlumency lessons," she sighed, deciding the truth was needed. "I just want to see some real, advanced magic. I feel like I've been so separated for so long and it was worth a try and all and I can't help it I'm curious but..."

"Understandable," Ginny said, reassuringly. "But stupid. You do not want to see the memories that I'm sure have been surfacing lately. I know it's not fair you've been kept from such a fascinating world, but that's one side that's far from fascinating."

"Yeah, sucks you had to come at such a shit time," Blaise said under his breath.

"Shit is right," Ginny stated. She drank to his words before grabbing the bottle off the table and pouring Hermione a glass. Hermione sat by the girls and took it eagerly.

"You okay Hermione? Did you see something?" Luna said when the nervousness didn't leave her face despite the drink.

"Well… I don't know. More blood purity stuff. Malfoy was throwing things, he mentioned his father and me," Hermione explained.

"Oh shit," Ginny gulped.

"Yeah…" Blaise agreed, taking a seat. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, half from irritation, half from tiredness. "We need to figure out how to help him. Otherwise, getting in touch with the Order will do no good, he'll just want to cause backlash. I think he thinks he'll regress the minute he gets back with his family simply because they're family. Loyalty is a winning trait for Malfoys. And they will do all they can to remind him of that. He can't see himself not helping them and they'll be just as cruel to him as any prisoner if he refuses. He needs to know he can be stronger than that though."

Hermione grew pale in the firelight, taking in what Blaise was saying. As much as she felt she had made some progress with Malfoy, he was still far off. He still felt like he had no choice. And he was still uneasy about her blood purity. That sort of angered her. But it was a scared sort of anger and all it did was remind her of how dangerous the wizarding world was going to be when she finally got to venture into it… if she'd even get to…

They all seemed lost in their own thoughts as silence filled the room.

…

The next night, Blaise walked over to the desk in the corner, where the bottle of fire whiskey was sitting. As he began pouring himself a glass, they could hear heavy footsteps through the upstairs hallway, like someone was running. Luna looked up from the fire and in seconds, Malfoy was running down the stairs, laughing, Theo fast on his heels.

Everyone watched as Theo raced after his friend before leaping to tackle him to the ground. They crashed into a pile, Theo's fists making contact with whatever body part he could.

"Ow! Hey!" Draco shouted, trying to shield himself from the blows. Theo was relentless, practically laughing now himself as he swiped at Draco left and right.

"What's going on you two?" Blaise rushed over trying to intervene, but it was no use. Draco managed a punch right at Theo's left cheek and a small mark could be seen just under his eye.

"Just because I get to your shitty memories doesn't mean you should purposely look for mine!" Theo said, "Especially that!"

Draco was laughing still. "What, you looked great in those tights!" And with that, the whole room was now interested. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other, not sure if they should laugh. Did they hear him right?

"Did I just hear you right? Did you say tights?" Ginny tried to hide her laughter.

"Exactly that, Weasley. Exactly that," Draco managed as he rolled to the left to get away. A bruise was forming over his eyebrow. When he finally grabbed the back of the couch to stand, he ran to Blaise at the desk, ducking behind him for safety. Blaise held up his hands to stop Theo, pushing him back.

"Alright Theo, calm down," Blaise was saying as Theo finally took a step back. He sighed, shaking his head.

"Prat…" Theo said quietly. Draco just chuckled.

"You know, you two are supposed to be practicing keeping each other _out_ of your minds. Not the other way around," Blaise reminded them.

Draco snatched the bottle of fire whiskey and poured two more glasses. "Yeah, but that gets so boring and he had it coming."

"I doubt that," Blaise said. Theo gave him a knowing look. He had walked away, choosing to sit on the far side of the room to distance himself from Draco, who didn't seem to care anymore. Draco waved a hand and the other glass soared over to Theo. He took it reluctantly.

"So… what's with the tights?" Ginny ventured, giggling into her own glass. Luna let out a short laugh and Hermione tried not to smile. Maybe this was how Malfoy coped best, ignoring his own problems by shifting the focus to others. By invading his best friend's mind, no doubt.

"Don't you worry about it," Theo grumbled. "Draco's just being a prat because I uncovered some nice little Pansy memories."

At that Draco narrowed his eyes, shooting Theo a vicious glare. "We don't need to go there either. I'll drop the tights thing, promise."

"Pansy? Oh boy," Ginny said, sticking her tongue out like she were about to vomit. "What a little bitch."

"Shut it, Weasley," said Draco suddenly. He didn't need to bring up more of his past with Pansy, especially in front of Granger. That was definitely something he didn't want her hearing.

"Whoa now, take a step back, she didn't do anything and you know it," it was Hermione who said it and everyone in the room held their breath, wondering what he'd do. The anger from other memories was obviously back, and yet the unexpected happened.

"Fine. Whatever," Draco said unhappily. He stalked back over to the desk, taking the high backed leather chair behind it. It was the farthest away from everyone. He poured himself a large drink.

Blaise blinked at his obedience before looking to Theo. "Having memories about Hogwarts should be fond," he said. "Especially when we can't go back."

"Yeah, well it won't be the same and you know it. But the memories were nice. Even if it was stuff I didn't need to see," Theo mentioned.

"Merlin I miss that place," Ginny sighed. "Sucks everything went to shit so fast."

"Yeah, seriously," Theo agreed. Everyone sat silent for a bit, feeling the rush of old memories of the castle and friendships and learning in stone classrooms with whimsical professors. If only they could go back.

"What was Hogwarts like, tell me. Like the real Hogwarts, before all the shit that's happening. I want to know," Hermione's voice was quiet but sincere.

In the bleak reality of what her life could turn into, she needed renewed hope that this was all worth it. The idea of learning magic, actual magic, in a giant castle with spells and potions and houses just fascinated her to no end. Maybe hearing about them would at least take her mind off a war against the very thing she was.

Theo looked off out the window. "It was different then. We were kids then or, maybe we still are, I'm not really sure..." He paused to gather better thoughts.

"Our common room and dormitories were underneath the lake. At night sometimes, especially during storms, you could hear the mermaids singing." Hermione smiled. _Mermaids. Oh my God._

"I didn't know that," Ginny said suddenly, "I bet it sounds loads better in water than out. Harry had that damn egg from the Tri-wizard tournament and when he opened it in the common room the night he got it we all wanted to chuck it out the bloody window! Sounded like a sick cat throwing a fit, no lie."

Theo and Blaise laughed. Hermione didn't really understand the whole thing but she figured she could ask Ginny more later. A tri-wizard tournament and a singing egg? Crazy. Just crazy.

"That sounds awful! Potter would go and make a display of it, how the fuck did he even figure those out? Shit, we sat for ages figuring out what we would have done in those tasks," Blaise reminisced. A small smile came to his face as he got lost in his own memory. It was easier to talk of these times.

"He wasn't trying to make a display, we're just like that! Everyone was pumped to see what was next," Ginny argued. "And well, Ron and I found out about the dragons way before the first task. Our brother Charlie works in Romania, in a large Sanctuary. He was helping bring them here so." Even Draco looked up at this, interested, but it was Hermione who spoke, excitement in her voice.

"Wait, dragons?! Like real, winged, fire-breathing dragons?! You've got to be bloody joking!" Hermione said, shock sending her voice higher. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Ginny laughed. "Yes, sorry Hermione! Here I am babbling about the tri-wizard tournament and you've no idea. I wasn't even thinking, but basically there was this tournament where champions are tested in three magical tasks. It was between us and two other wizarding schools. Pretty sick actually."

"Yeah, the first task was to retrieve a golden egg guarded by a mother dragon," Luna said excitedly. "Not your typical contest," she realized, thinking of the flyers for dance contests and strength competitions all around campus. She laughed.

"That's wicked," Hermione managed. She was trying to wrap her head around the idea of real, live dragons, compared to the figurines Malfoy had turned real for her the other night. It was surreal. She glanced over at him, still brooding in the corner. He had drank his glass empty and was pouring another.

"That was smart for him to use his broom," Theo said. "Potter's a fair flyer despite the fact Krum was there showing off a bit."

The mention of flying brooms brought a new wave of interest, as she remembered seeing Ginny's only this morning when they were packing. "What do you use brooms for?" she managed, and chuckles filled the room. _I don't know if I'd want to fly at all…_ she thought, knowing her own dislike for regular airplanes.

"Transportation if you like, but for sport mostly," Theo laughed. "Viktor Krum, he's this amazing professional quidditch player who was a champion for one of the other schools."

"Already a spot on a national team and he's our age, piece of shit," it was Draco's voice that cut in and everyone looked over.

"You're just jealous," Ginny said. A sneer came to his face. "But you weren't just on your house team because you got your dad to buy you those brooms. Just saying."

It felt odd for Ginny to say what she had, it was all over her face but even she couldn't deny he had skill in the sport. Not as much as Harry, but still.

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Don't try to compliment me Weasley. And I asked my father several times _not_ to buy them, however he doesn't exactly like to listen to me."

"Okay well," Ginny started, desperate to keep the conversation away from Lucius. He was the one who had dropped Tom Riddle's diary in her cauldron; Harry and her had figured that out last year and now she loathed him even more. Submitting an eleven year old to that kind of possession was just psychotic.

Yet as she looked over at Malfoy, sneering much like his dad with the same blond hair, she at least was grateful never to have lived with the man. Malfoy had. Shit. She'd never considered that before… how awful...

"Tell us something you remember from Hogwarts that you actually liked Draco," Blaise challenged instead, taking the subject on a much needed turn back to the previous conversation. A discussion of Mr. Malfoy was exactly what they didn't want or need.

Curiosity struck all of them and the room got quiet, waiting to hear his response. Draco took a second to think. Hogwarts felt like ages ago. He wished he were back there and even though he thought he still hated Weasley, even her stories of the old school were bittersweet. He remembered the mermaids singing and just like Theo it had been a welcome sound in the chaos of storms that reminded them of home life. He missed the place, more than he thought.

Suddenly, as memories came to mind he was saying them out loud, not remembering everyone was listening. "Quills and owl post. The trees in the courtyard and some of the ancient readings for History of Magic. The great hall's breakfasts. The library," he looked to Hermione without thinking and her brown eyes shone wide and lost, as if she were dreaming of the possibilities of the castle's enormous magical library and owls soaring in and out of windows.

He sort of smiled, seeing her daydream. He didn't know why he was being so honest and why he loved seeing her with books. Maybe he was just tired of being angry. Maybe he was starting to see there was a lot more to friendships and the magic of Hogwarts than he ever realized. _Fuck…_

 _If only things had been different_ , Hermione thought. Would she be here right now, had she gotten to attend their school? She looked towards Malfoy, who was absentmindedly rubbing his forearm and staring at the fire. She knew the mark lay underneath the fabric and she wondered if it burned him when he thought of the past.

What would she think of Malfoy had she met him at Hogwarts? Would they be in the same house? What would befriending him then have been like? Would he have been a pompous arse to her the way he had to Ginny and Luna or would she have gotten to know a different person altogether? Would it have mattered she was a muggleborn?

The things he mentioned sounded minor, not anything as spectacular as dragons or flying brooms. There was a hint of sincerity in his voice that was unmistakable and had nothing to do with blood purity. It was lovely to hear. Hermione sighed into her glass.

"I think there was more to Hogwarts than any of us realized," Luna spoke after several minutes, her voice as lofty and comforting as always. "And I think there is a lot we can learn from our time there."

"I think you're probably right," Blaise agreed. Theo and Ginny stayed silent, each giving a small nod as they took more to drink. Hermione sat, puzzled as to what to think about this crazy magical world.

…

Two nights later, Hermione lay in her bed listening to the house settling around her. She had taken up the extra room down the hall from Malfoy's room as her own; Ginny and Luna both ended up in third floor bedrooms the other night, so that left her with the one on the second floor. While she did not particularly feel comfortable or upset with being just down the hall from him, she couldn't get him out of her head.

All the things he said recently were so out of character. Why was it whenever there was a conversation between the two of them she could manage to see a scrap of a human underneath all that pretentiousness? He surely wasn't making this easy for either of them. She wanted to be angry but it wasn't his fault completely, was it? Maybe this was the only way he could really deal with all the trouble from his past. Snarky comments and hidden niceness. _My, what that must be doing to him emotionally._ She thought of how livid she saw he was during his lessons with Theo when she spied on them and got chills.

What would happen if she kept pushing him further, she wondered, as she turned over to stare at the fire. It crackled and puffed and she was reminded of the fire whiskey they'd all drank too much of. It was delicious despite the burn it caused and she really could use some now if only to get to sleep.

In a huff she threw back the covers, unsatisfied with her inability to figure things out. She threw on a sweater and decided the best place for her to find solace would be the library. It didn't matter that it was Malfoy's, it would suffice to get her mind off things in the least.

When she opened her door she crept slowly to the hall. It was wide and illuminated by tiny flames that danced along the baseboards magically floating to light the way. She could just see a sliver of light coming from Malfoy's room as she grew closer to the third floor staircase. She held her breath as she passed, hoping not to be heard. When she got to the staircase she paused, not going up, listening. There was only the crackle of a fire.

Relieved she hurried up the stairs and found her way to the door, making no sound as her footfalls graced the white pine floors. Quickly she shut the door and leaned against it, sighing. Just having the books made things better.

She glanced around the dark shelves and took several steps inside before pausing. A single, large candle sat lit in the center of the round table that stood near the windows. It did not carry much light very far into the room and the embers in the fire created heat but only a small flicker of light. She searched the darkness around her and stayed perfectly quiet, but no one appeared to be around.

"Couldn't sleep?" a voice spoke into the silence. Hermione turned white, glancing left and right. No one was there.

"I'm not going to try anything," the voice said from far away. Hermione strained to see where it was coming from.

When she finally laid eyes on Malfoy's silhouette in the window sill she was unsure what to do. "Why do you always sit up there?" was all she could come up with but she was happy she kept her voice steady. She took a few more steps inside and stood by the fire. He was the last person she had wanted to see but somehow, she didn't feel afraid.

"It prevents anyone from being able to sneak up on me," Draco said causally. "And it's incredibly comfortable."

"Pft, I doubt that," she said, eying the stone. But there was an extremely large, plush looking pillow just visible behind him that might make up for the hardness. She still didn't want to find out.

Draco wasn't sure what he was doing, talking to her like this. Was it because she just so happened to wander in late at night to disrupt his own weary thoughts? Reading the muggle history book on top of dreaming about her again made his mind muddy. He didn't want to dwell on what couldn't be. What shouldn't be… did he even want it to be anything? What would be so wrong if he did?

He shook his head of the crazy ideas. It was late. "Have you actually tried sitting up here?" he countered, bringing them both back to the present situation.

"Well no but-" Hermione tried but he cut her off.

"Then you shouldn't make a judgement on it," Draco said.

"Same goes for you," she said and he stayed silent. "In many instances."

He sighed. It took him a moment before he found the right words. "Yeah well, obviously you've learned that's never been an easy thing for me," his voice held reluctance. "It's nothing personal."

Wait, what was he saying? Wasn't it all about being personal to her? She was muggleborn after all. Yet that was starting to matter less and less in the grand scheme of things. He'd still be shit on by the death eaters when he was found, muggleborn in his presence or no. Maybe, in light of everything over the past month, he was now seeing the unfairness in all the insults…

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Except it is personal," she clarified, before he could even back track. "There's muggles all around you, in class, at parties, on campus. They're nothing terrible, you've said it yourself. Yet half the time you still act like I'm someone you're ashamed to talk to except in private. Muggle girls talk to you all the time," she noted, "you'd think it'd be refreshing to have someone like me to talk to, someone who's not half listening, drooling at your every gaze."

Draco gave a short laugh. "You jealous Granger?"

Hermione's cheeks puffed. "No. I'm just pointing out that I shouldn't be any different! You are perfectly capable of being civil I've seen it on several occasions," she reminded him.

Draco smiled. He liked hearing her talk about him; it made him consider attempting to sweet talk her a bit, but suddenly it was clear she was in no mood. He wasn't ready for the onslaught of frustration that was about to spew from her lips.

"I'm really getting sick of this two sided bullshit," she stated. "Either you actually believe I'm a rotten piece of inferior filth, which I doubt," she thought of how Theo had said Malfoy hadn't called her a mudblood for quite some time, "or it's just a ruse you've put up with your whole life. Whether you were forced into it or did it to fit in, doesn't matter. Both are pretty sad. Makes you all the more unlikeable, you do know there's other perspectives out there, right?" she asked, not really looking for an answer. Draco gulped, unable to speak, but Hermione wasn't done.

"I get it you had it rough, but other people have too. You've no idea what muggle schooling is like, the bullshit and gossip. Now I'm not saying it's the same kind of roughness and I do feel for you, but come on. I'm here, at this house. I'm a part of this world and I'm helping and I'm going to fight and you've already slept with me and I am going to learn magic and I'm not leaving. Get over it."

Her honesty weighed heavily in the air between them but she stood behind her words bravely waiting for a response. He needed to hear this.

Instead of responding he jumped down from the window ledge and into the light. Hermione could just make out the scarlet on his cheeks; was it from irritation with her accusation or nervousness from her sensing the truth? His shoulders were back making his gait look strong and purposeful. His hair was a mess like usual. The book he held in his hand at his side was the muggle history book she had given them a few nights ago. His pointer finger held his page.

But instead of anger his voice held something close to an apology when he finally spoke. He took a few steps towards her until they were only a few feet apart.

"You haven't seen what it's like out there… in the real wizarding world. You don't know what they're like… you've caught a small, one-sided glimpse from a few nightmares of mine and our shitty Slytherin past told to you second hand from Lovegood and Weasley," Malfoy made clear. "Not that they didn't experience some pretty messed up shit, at the hands of people I called friends, family…" he trailed off, sounding apologetic as he thought of the past. "From me even…"

"I'm not trying to undermine you, because your words are more true than I care to admit…" he said quietly. "I'm selfish, I'm hostile. I know it." He paused, taking a big breath. "Oh, do I know it." His voice became almost scary.

"But this book," he held up the one in his hand, "the pictures are bad but… but I've _seen_ worse. In person. And I'm telling you it's not easy. When you see it for yourself, when you know you've done terrible things… I'm sure you'll understand… I'm the way I am for a reason. It's all I could do to survive with these people. They're, they're the worst kind of dreadful okay. They thrive on fear and violence and difference and darkness. It's... it's real. And it's tragic."

Hermione's lips quivered ever so slightly. Despite the fire, chills went down her arms and neck like shower water, drenching her to the bone. It was an impulse reaction, based on the anxiety in his voice, but nonetheless it made her think.

She wasn't scared, was she? Should she be? She wasn't sure. He was right that she didn't know what the worst had to offer and she hadn't seen the dark side of the wizarding world for herself yet. Truthfully, she hadn't seen much of the wizarding world at all. But something deep inside told her she had to be stronger than her worst fears. Even if she hadn't a clue what those truly could be…

"I… I know I don't know exactly what's out there, you're right," she said.  
"But I have to try and fight don't I? I'm a target, I have to try and do something for myself, for people like me. I'm not the only muggleborn that can do magic, you've told me that. We're talking about people being discriminated, persecuted for something they can't help. Much like in that book," she said. "I can't just stand by idle. If I just succumb to what is easy instead of what is right, hiding instead of fighting, I won't be able to live with myself. Or I might not end up living at all."

Draco blinked several times. Her determination alone was enough to scare him. But she had to mention the possibility both of them already knew: that she could end up killed. And it was insanely admirable. To see someone stand up and face possible death so bravely, so ferociously. He didn't know what to do, what to say. He was in awe. No one was this honest to him except maybe Theo. Ever.

"I'm only letting you know what I see," she said. "And I've seen you be different. There's still a real person in there… somewhere. You only need find him, let him up to breathe," she started to turn to leave.

"Wait," Draco called. Hermione turned around. "Do you… do you really believe that?"

"Well, yes," she said, fairly matter-of-factly.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why? Because I choose to see it. You fixed my wand work that first day I trained. You talked to me of Paris and sailing and seeing the world on a drunken walk home from a party. You paid for my coffee, remember?" she smirked. "You read muggle poetry and are taking the time to read that history book. You obviously care for your friends and your family, or this wouldn't be this difficult. I hope you see you still have the option of choosing a different way," she looked at him with beautiful brown eyes that were so filled with belief. Belief in him. It almost startled him.

Maybe it was because it was so late her inhibitions about him were down, but Hermione felt like she had to be this honest. He needed it and maybe it would be worth all the negative backlash she felt she was about to get. And maybe she needed to remind herself too. His eyes were stormy with confusion and self-doubt when she gazed at him, taking in her words like a desert parched of water.

"You really should get some sleep," she said, seeing the bags under his eyes when he failed to speak. "And actually make an effort to eat with us. It would be good for you."

 _Why did she have to care so much?_ Draco thought viciously. _It's not like I'm bound to do some crazy heroic shit for this world if only I decide to be nice! I'm awful, I like to cause problems, I grew up amongst the worst. It's all I've ever known, it's, it's... easier that way. At least, it had been..._

He couldn't take this. She just kept hammering him about choices and changing and her kindness seeped into his mind like poison. Would it actually be possible for things to change? Could he confront all the damage that had already been done? Was she willing to hang around to see what that was like?

My, that was a dangerous game for her to play, if it were true. It sure seemed it, the way she wouldn't leave him alone about it all. Maybe she was just that moved by her own magical ability and blood status. Maybe if she really knew some of the bad shit he'd done, she wouldn't be so kind. Did he dare dwell in the what-ifs?

Her ambition flanked every sentence she said to him, it was crazy to have someone that willing to fight against darkness. It was so easy for her. It had never been for him. He didn't know how to act, what to do. He looked down at the snake on his forearm, a bitter reminder of the past. And then he looked to Granger standing in front of him, a beautiful woman, a victim without even knowing it. Yet a victim so full to the brim with hope. So desperate to get him to stop drowning the innocent part of him that he kept buried inside.

And in seconds he was closing the gap between them and taking her face in his hands. When their lips met it was warm and comforting despite the fact he was trembling. He had no idea what he was doing and she was caught just as off guard.

As taken aback as she was, Hermione embraced the kiss for a moment before nervously pushing away. She looked away somewhat flustered when they parted, unsure if her words had truly moved him this much or if he was just looking for a way to get her to shut up.

"Um, good night," she said and turned too quickly for him to stop her. The door clicked shut and Draco stood, unable to comprehend what had just happened.


End file.
